The Messerschmitt Bf109K"Kurfurst"

The Bf 109K was the last version of the elusive BF 109 series to be built in numbers. It was based around the previous BF 109G-10. The BF 109K-1 was a planned replacement for the BF 109G-5 and was going to have a pressurized cockpit and a DB 605A engine. But this version never went into production. The BF 109K-2 was not put into production, although a K-2, presumably a prototype, is known. The BF 109K-3 was a planned fighter version and the K-3/R2 a reconnaissance version with a pressurized cockpit and a dB 605A engine. This version also never went into production. These versions were canceled, due to Messerschmitt deciding to use a standardized version of the K, this would become the K-4. The K-4 was a standardized fighter, based around the G-10, being built from scratch and not from converted G's. The K-4 was powered by the Daimler-Benz dB 605D (or DM) engine although there is evidence that some early K-4 were powered by dB 605AS engines. The total number of K-4 built is unknown, but 534 had been delivered by November 1944 and more were built on top of these. Messerschmitt built most K-4 at there Regensberg plant, but Erla Maschinenwerke GmbH. also built some. K-4 were fitted with the 'Erla Haube' as standard and the F0 987 deep oil cooler, VDM 9-12159 propeller and FuG 16zy and 25a radar were also standard. MW 50 was fitted to the dB 605D engine as a boost also. The armament of the K-4 consisted of a MK 108 cannon which was engine mounted and two MG 131 machine guns mounted above the engine. Some K-4 were fitted with the MG 151/20 cannon instead of the MK 108.