Arado Ar 196

Ar 196
Luftwaffe Arado Ar 196A-2 (OU+AR) taxiing
Role	Reconnaissance Type of aircraft
Manufacturer	Arado
Designer	Walter Blume
First flight	May 1937
Introduction	November, 1938
Primary users	Kriegsmarine Bulgarian Air Force Finnish Air Force
Produced	1938–44
Number built	541

The Arado Ar 196 was a shipboard reconnaissance low-wing monoplane aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Arado. It was the standard observation floatplane of the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) throughout the Second World War, and was the only German seaplane to serve throughout the conflict.^[1]

The Ar 196 was designed in response to the Kriegsmarine's requirement to replace the Heinkel He 60 biplane after the intended successor, the He 114, had proved to be unsatisfactory. Arado submitted a monoplane design to the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (German Air Ministry, RLM) while all competing bids were for biplanes; the RLM decided to order four prototypes of the Ar 196 in late 1936. Testing of these prototypes during late 1937 revealed their favourable performance characteristics, leading to production being authorised and formal service tests commencing in the opening weeks of 1939. Starting in November 1939, production switched to the heavier land-based Ar 196 A-2 model; it would be followed by several more models until production of the type was terminated during August 1944.

All capital ships of the Kriegsmarine were equipped with Ar 196s. The aircraft was commonly used by numerous coastal squadrons, and as such continued to perform reconnaissance missions and submarine hunts into late 1944 across the Mediterranean, Aegean, and Black Seas. Perhaps their most noteworthy engagement was the involvement of two Ar 196s in the detection and capture of HMS Seal.^[2] In addition to Germany, the Ar 196 was exported to the Bulgarian Air Force. Numerous examples were captured by the Allies, some of which were operated as late as 1955. Several Ar 196s have survived through to the twenty-first century, preserved for static display; none are known to be in an airworthy condition.