Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Fw 190 A-1

The A-1 was the first production version of the Fw 190 and entered production in June 1941, after the A-0 pre-production batch of which twenty-eight examples were completed. It was powered by the BMW 801 C-1 radial, rated at 1,560 PS (1,147 kW) for take-off, and introduced in service the larger-area wing tested on the V5g prototype — the wing platform that would be used on every major version of the type.

Its armament combined four 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns — two in the fuselage and two in the wing roots, all synchronised — with two 20 mm MG FF/M cannon mounted in the outer wing. It was a heavier battery than that of the A-0 pre-production aircraft, which carried six MG 17 and no cannon, but it would soon prove insufficient: already on the A-2 the wing-root MG 17 gave way to MG 151/20E cannon.

The A-1 took the Fw 190 into combat for the first time. The fighter entered action on the Western Front in August 1941 and proved superior to the Spitfire Mk V, whose only clear advantage was a tighter turning radius; in speed, acceleration, roll rate and diving performance the German aircraft had the upper hand. The arrival of the Fw 190 allowed the Jagdwaffe to fight off RAF attacks and hold local air superiority over German skies until the summer of 1942, when the Spitfire Mk IX appeared.