Orlik 045 Sombold so 344 + ciągnik lotniskowy Scheuch Schlepper

The Sombold So 344 was a project of a German WWII fighter plane. The machine had an avant-garde aerodynamic system, and it was planned to use a single rocket or pulse engine as the drive. Two machine guns were planned as on-board weapons, and a detachable warhead weighing 500 kilograms was planned to be mounted in the front of the aircraft.

The design of the Sombold So 344 aircraft was created in the final phase of World War II, in early 1944, and its main goal was to fight the Allied bombing offensive against German industry and cities. It was assumed that the So 344 would be launched into the air on the mother plane, then - already in the air - it would be disconnected from it and would independently attempt to attack the formation of Allied bombers. This attack was to consist in the maximum approach of the machine to the enemy, firing the bow warhead and running away as quickly as possible. For self-defense, the use of machine guns was envisaged. The project was never implemented, and work on it was completely abandoned at the beginning of 1945.