Focke - Wulf Ta 400 The Focke - Wulf Ta 400 was a large six - engined bomber design developed in Nazi Germany in 1943 by Focke - Wulf as a serious contender for the Amerika Bomber project . One of the first aircraft to be developed from components from multiple countries , it was also one of the most advanced Focke - Wulf designs of World War II , though it never progressed beyond a wind tunnel model . Designed as a bomber and long - range reconnaissance plane by Kurt Tank , the Ta 400 had a shoulder - mounted wing with 4° dihedral . One of the most striking features was the six BMW 801 D radial engines , to which two Jumo 004 jet engines were later added . Design and development . In response to the RLM guidelines of 22 January 1942 , Kurt Tank of the Focke - Wulf company designed the Ta 400 as a bomber and long - range reconnaissance aircraft to be powered by six BMW 801 D radial engines , to which two Jumo 004 jet engines were later added . Design work was begun in 1943 , much of it being carried out by French technicians working for Focke Wulf at Châtillon - sous - Bagneux near Paris , with contracts for design and construction of major components being awarded to German , French , and Italian companies in an attempt to speed the process and begin construction of prototypes as soon as possible . The Ta 400 had a shoulder - mounted wing with 4° dihedral , with a long straight center section extending to the middle engine on each wing , and highly tapered outer wing panels . It had twin vertical stabilizers mounted at the tips of the tailplane . Like the American Boeing B - 29 Superfortress the Ta 400 was to have a pressurized crew compartment and tail turret , connected by pressurized tunnel , as well as multiple remote - controlled turrets . The crew of nine was to be protected by a heavy defensive armament including ten 20 mm MG 151 cannon s . Fuel supply was to have distributed across 32 fuel tanks . Another design feature was tricycle landing gear . Maximum bomb load was to be . With a gross weight of , the Ta 400 with DB 603 engines was estimated to have a range of in the reconnaissance role , cruising at . The two bomber versions would have and gross weights with estimated ranges of and respectively . The projected Jumo - powered aircraft would have had a maximum range of for long range reconnaissance and as a bomber . As with the Heinkel He 277 competitor for the " Amerika Bomber " contract , no prototype of the Ta 400 was ever built , it never progressed beyond a wind tunnel model , and performance , range and dimensions are based solely on the designers ' estimates . The master aircraft designer Ernst Heinkel himself remarked in October 1943 , while both designs were still being worked on , thought that only the Ta 400 could be a worthy competitor to his firm ' s He 277 for the Amerika Bomber competition . The Ta 400 was essentially a backup design for the Messerschmitt Me 264 . As the design required more materials and labor than the Me 264 , the RLM became convinced that further development of the Ta 400 was a waste and on 15 October 1943 , notified Focke - Wulf that the program would be terminated , but the minutes of a meeting in Italy of Tank with Italian aviation industrialists on 18 April 1944 confirmed that the design was still active and proposed the cooperation of Italian industry in the project .