The Horten H.XVIII was a proposed German World War II intercontinental bomber, designed by the Horten brothers. The unbuilt H.XVIII represented, in many respects, a scaled-up version of the Horten Ho 229, a prototype jet fighter. The H.XVIII was one of many proposed designs for an Amerikabomber, and would have carried sufficient fuel for transatlantic flights. The XVIIIA variant, with its wood structure, buried engines in the fuselage, flying wing design and carbon-based glue component, would have been, in theory, the first stealth bomber in history.
The B model of the H.XVIIIB was generally the same as the A model, except the four (down from six) engines and four-wheel retractable landing gear were now housed in underwing pods, and the three-man crew housed under a bubble canopy. The aircraft was to be built in huge concrete hangars and operate off long runways with construction due to start in autumn 1945, but the end of the war came with no progress made. Defensive armament was considered unnecessary due to the expected high performance.
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