Even before WW2, Hitler secretly planned to capture the Azores in an attempt to cut the distance to the US mainland for strategic bombing. However, once the war began, the Azores were taken by US forces in advance as well as the British protecting Iceland from German invasion. Germany, therefore by 1940 was left with air bases in Norway and France to bomb the US. Goering forbid Heinkel to develop 4-engine strategic bombers and so the LW had to rely on twin medium bombers throughout the war. However, Messerschmitt was permitted to build the original Me-264 Amerika Bomber which unfortunately was stalled and then later bombed. The USAF Daylight Offensive and RAF Night Offensive left Germany scrambling for emergency fighter production in late 1944 which led to the He-162 jet by April 1945. But even in late 1944 when all German bombers were cancelled, Heinkel had defied Goering and built the He-277 (fake designation He-177B) and was working on the He-274 in France (which was sabotaged). The Ju-488 was also under construction in France and sabotaged which left Germany in 1945 with two jet bombers- the Ar-234C and the Ju-287 with FSW. Neither became operational. But then a mystery in March 1945 when the Horten brothers (builders of flying wings and deltas) were approved on the 23rd to build a new Amerika Bomber as quickly as possible for use with a new Wunderwaffe (Wonder Weapon) under development. It was to be a single bomb to be dropped on Manhatten. Some historians now believe that with new proof that the Germans discovered their nuke mistake and tried for a mini-Uranium bomb of 880lbs. However, this was a light weapon to be carried by a modified Me Bf 109K-4 fighter for tactical battlefield use. So, what were the other weapons for consideration? Well, at Ohrdruf two radiologicals were under construction and seized/destroyed. That left another mystery weapon- the SS Firedamp bomb which used 60% coal dust and 40% LOX for a massive explosion. But the SS had added a mystery reagent that would cause unusual meteorological effects at ground level- a lightning storm to fry everything within a 4.5km radius. Supposedly, this was tested in March 1945 near the Baltic. The Horten XVIII under construction was meant to carry one of these weapons. It would be made of salvagable materials: tubular steel, wood, and fabric. It would be powered by 4x Jumo 004H jet engines with a range of nearly 6000 miles and up to 7700 with aerial refueling. It would be a flying wing with nose and rear gunner positions and two bomb bays for a conventional load of 4.2 tons. It was being constructed at the Kahla facility in Thuringia when the war ended. The center section was reportedly completed, but not the wings, and other components. The Jumos had reached the E stage but no further, so any operating Ho-XVIII would have had to substitute HeS 011 turbojets. And there was no tested aerial refueler except a Ju-290 during the war that re-feuled a Ju-390. So, the entire late program never really stood a chance. By that time Sanger and EMW had German spacecraft designed for the same job. This included the Silbervogel Anti-podal bomber and EMW A-6, A-9, and A-9B. German missiles at Peenemunde could also do the job with the ICBM A-9/A-10 under construction and a mystery 92 foot tall cluster rocket captured by the Soviets. German contamination versions of the V-1 and V-2 also were being constructed- the D-1 and D-2. Five D-2s were destroyed prior to capture at Leese.

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