The most notable use of the Ar 234 in the bomber role was the attempt to destroy the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen.
In the winter/spring 1945 period, single-plane Kommando-designated units that used the Arado Ar 234 Blitz jet powered reconnaissance-bomber operated from hidden, forest-lined runways in eastern Germany.
Arado Ar 234 | German submarine U-234 | Arado SD I | Arado Ar 66 |
In Germany, von Ohain had produced several working centrifugal engines, some of which had flown including the world's first jet aircraft (He 178), but development efforts had moved on to Junkers (Jumo 004) and BMW (BMW 003), which used axial-flow designs in the world's first jet fighter (Messerschmitt Me 262) and jet bomber (Arado Ar 234).
In other cases, like the Arado Ar 234 or the prototype bomber conversions of the Messerschmitt Me 262, the tube was open to the air, mounted so the mirror window was almost flush with the fuselage line.