Me 410 A-1

Description

The Me 410 was an evolution of the pre-war design of the Me 210. The planes looked quite similar but the Me 410 housed the much more powerful DB 603 engines which greatly improved the aircraft's performance. The Me 410 A-1 had its beginnings relatively late into the war. Production started in 1944 and the A-1 was intended to be a high-speed bomber. This was the result of the pre-war ideas that twin-engine aircraft could be both a fighter and a bomber. Needless to say, the Me 410 A-1 did not excel in its role as a bomber. It could only carry two 500 kg bombs and that was on the limit. The two 500 kg bombs barely fit and one of the bomb bay doors had to be left slightly open which increased drag.

The Me 410 A-1 has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.27. It's the first Me 410 in the tech tree to be able to carry bombs although not many. Bomb loadouts consist of two 500 kg bombs, two 250 kg bombs, or eight 50 kg bombs; a fairly weak bomb load when it comes to bombing bases. However, the Me 410 A-1 does come armed with two MG 151 cannons as well as two 7.92 mm machine guns which can be handy for attacking soft ground targets. Much like many of the Me 410s in-game, the A-1 also comes equipped with two 13 mm machine gun turrets mounted on the sides of the fuselage. Overall, the Me 410 A-1 is a decent ground attacker but is vulnerable to enemy aircraft.

General info

The Me 410's instrument panel.

Flight performance

Details

Survivability and armour

• 8 mm steel - front of cockpit (either side of the glass)
• 5 mm steel - wings leading edge (in front of fuel tanks)
• 8 mm steel - prop hub and gear bay
• 9 mm steel - top and bottoms of wings (around the liquid cooling system)
• 8 mm steel - plates in the tail
• 8 mm steel - bulkhead aft of gunner
• 8 mm steel - between gunner and pilot
• 12 mm steel - pilot's headrest
• 60 mm bulletproof glass - in front of the pilot (inside aircraft)

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Me 410 A-1 is armed with:

• 2 x 20 mm MG 151 cannons, nose-mounted (350 rpg = 700 total)
• 2 x 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns, nose-mounted (1,000 rpg = 2,000 total)

Suspended armament

The Me 410 A-1 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 8 x 50 kg SC50JA bombs (400 kg total)
• 2 x 250 kg SC250JA bombs (500 kg total)
• 2 x 500 kg SC500K bombs (1,000 kg total)

Defensive armament

The Me 410 A-1 is defended by:

• 2 x 13 mm MG 131 machine gun, 2 x beam turrets (500 rpg)

Usage in battles

Me 410 A-1 flying past a burning Firecrest.

The Me 410 A-1 is the first variant unlocked of the Me 410 line-up of planes, succeeding the Do 217 fighter variants. Compared to Do 217, the Me 410 boasts significantly better flight performance in virtually all aspects and performs much more like an improved Bf 110 C-7. However, in the large spectrum of things, this doesn't really say a lot as the Me 410 gets pitted against even faster, more nimble and better armed single-engine fighters than its predecessors. Perhaps even more grievous of a pitfall, its armament of 2 x 7.92 mm MG 15 machine guns and 2 x 20 mm MG 151 cannons hardly outgun conventional fighters. A small but nonetheless noticeable plus is that defensive armament has very good coverage of the entire rear of the aircraft besides the immediate area behind the tail boom.

The Me 410 A-1, like the Do 217 and the Bf 110 C-7, is completely committed to boom and zoom tactics, and just like the predecessors, is useless at absolutely everything else. Trying to retain energy and knowing where your friends and enemies are is key to surviving in the aircraft. This also means, just like with the previous heavy fighters, that you should never commit to following a certain enemy. If an enemy is starting to turn off to the point where you need to use elevators to assist you in a turn, you will be burning far too much energy and make yourself easy prey for more nimble fighters.

Manual Engine Control

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Nose-mounted armament gives a very dense cone of fire
• Good traverse arcs for the 13 mm machine guns
• Reasonably fast for a twin-engine fighter
• Has air brake
• Larger ammo capacity than conventional fighters
• Significantly more manoeuvrable than the Do 217 fighters
• Capable of mounting a decent amount of bombs (for a fighter) by default in the internal bomb bay

Cons:

• Large target for enemy aircraft
• Subpar manoeuvrability; even a few bombers can out-turn it
• Pilot can be vulnerable in a head-on attack
• Defensive armament cannot shoot directly behind the aircraft, leaving a very critical blindspot in the coverage
• Slow, a sitting duck if caught in a low energy state
• Compresses easily at high speeds
• Wings rip easily at high speeds in RB/SB

History

The Me 410 was developed from the Me 210. The Me 210 had many aerodynamic flaws which were exploited by the more nimble Hawker Typhoons. The Me 410 was a redesign of the Me 210 which included a lengthened fuselage, more powerful Daimler-Benz DB603A engines, and larger wing surface area. Most importantly, the installation of automatic slats greatly improved handling characteristics. Early versions of the Me 410 were designed as fast night and day bombers but quickly fell prey to better British night fighters. In the role of a heavy fighter, the Me 410 was used to attack US day-bomber combat box formations, equipped with 50 mm BK cannons or 210 mm Werfer-Granate rocket tubes. These modifications made the Me 410 rather clumsy and unmanoeuvrable. This made them easy targets to the bomber's escorts, fast and agile Spitfires or P-51 Mustangs. The Me 410 often worked in co-operation with Bf 110s. In the closing stages of World War II, many Me 410s were used as homeland defence or tactical reconnaissance.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Me 410 A-1 from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• Official data sheet - more details about the performance