Editing Junkers Ju 388 (section)

==Background==
The [[Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany)|''Reichsluftfahrtministerium'']] (RLM), the Reich Aviation Ministry, first learned of the [[United States|American]] [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress]] [[heavy bomber]] in late 1942. Serious concerns as to B-29 capability developed in early 1944, when YB-29 "Hobo Queen" made a well-publicised appearance at [[RAF Bovingdon]], which had been cryptically hinted at in an American-published ''Sternenbanner'' German language propaganda leaflet from [[Leap Year Day]] in 1944, meant to be circulated within the Reich.<ref>[http://www.384thbombgroup.com/WinJack3/wwII-sternenbanner_1.html ''Sternenbanner'' announcement of the B-29 in German, comparing it to the B-17 in size]</ref>

The performance estimates of this aircraft were a cause for great unease in the ''Luftwaffe''. The B-29 had a maximum [[Airspeed|speed]] of around 560&nbsp;km/h (350&nbsp;mph), and would attack in a cruise of about 360&nbsp;km/h (225&nbsp;mph) at {{convert|8,000|-|10,000|m|ft|abbr=on}}, an altitude where no current ''Luftwaffe'' aircraft was effective, and for which the only effective Wehrmacht anti-aircraft gun was the rarely-deployed [[12.8 cm FlaK 40]], which could effectively fire to an altitude of {{convert|14,800|m|ft}}.

To counter the B-29, the ''Luftwaffe'' would need new [[day fighter]]s and [[bomber destroyer]]s with greatly enhanced performance at extreme altitude. The fighter chosen was the [[Focke-Wulf Ta 152|Focke-Wulf Ta 152H]], a derivative of the [[List_of_Focke-Wulf_Fw_190_variants#Fw_190D|Fw 190D]] with a longer [[wingspan]] and powered by the new high-altitude model "E" of the [[Junkers Jumo 213]] engine. An alternative fighter model was the [[Blohm & Voss BV 155|Messerschmitt Me 155B]], a long-[[wing|winged]] development of the [[Messerschmitt Bf 109|Bf 109]], which had already undergone several stages of design and would ultimately be built in [[prototype]] form by [[Blohm & Voss (aircraft)|Blohm & Voss]]. The centre-line thrust, twin-engined [[Dornier Do 335]], powered with two of the competing [[Daimler-Benz DB 603]] engines also offered a service ceiling of some 11,400&nbsp;m (37,500&nbsp;ft), but the promising Dornier [[heavy fighter]] and ''zerstörer'' was still under development with only prototype airframes flying, and the first production examples expected to enter operational service late in 1944.

For the bomber destroyer and [[night fighter]] roles, the all-wood [[Focke-Wulf Ta 154]] and metal-structured [[Heinkel He 219]] had the performance needed to catch the bomber; however, both designs only gained that performance by mounting [[Aspect ratio (aeronautics)|low aspect ratio]] wings which were inadequate for flight at high [[altitude]] and resultingly produced too high a [[wing loading]]. The Junkers Ju 88 had already been modified for high-altitude with as the S and T models, but these did not have the performance needed. Similar high-altitude modifications to the [[Junkers Ju 188|Ju 188]], with its complex stepless cockpit glazing comprising some three dozen framed window panels in all, were being looked at as the projected Ju 188J, K and L models, which included a simplified "stepless" [[Cabin pressurization|pressurized]] [[cockpit]] that fully enclosed the entire nose using fewer glazed panels in comparison to the Ju 188's glazing design, and wing and [[Elevator (aircraft)|elevator]] [[ice protection system|de-icing equipment]] for extended flights at very high altitude. These were selected for development, and renamed '''Ju 388'''.