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The Bf 110H was the final proposed version of the Bf 110 series. It was to be powered by the DB 605E engine. The forward firing armament was to be upgraded to 2 MK 108 cannon each with 135 rounds and 1 MK 103 cannon with 140 rounds. It would be equipped with 2 ETC 500 bomb racks under the fuselage and either 4 ETC 50 bomb racks or 4 NeWe 21 cm rockets beneath the wings.
Proposed variants included the H-4 night fighter and the H-5 single seat heavy fighter. It was hoped that the removal of all the observers equipment would provide a significant improvement to the overall performance of the aircraft.
Work on the Bf 110H began in 1943. By February 1943 most aspects of the aircraft was approaching the prototype stage, when on 24 February 1944 the USAAF bombed the Gotha works, destroying the test facilities, and the prototype Bf 110H. This set the project back by at least six months. In September 1944 development work on the Bf 110 was curtails, and in November 1944 the aircraft was not included in the Emergency Fighter Program. The Bf 110H does not appear to have reached production status, although some works suggest that it did.
Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zerstorer Aces of World War 2 (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces), John Weal. This book concentrates on the career of the Bf 110 as a daylight fighter. At the start of the war the aircraft had an impressive reputation, which survived to the end of the French campaign but faded once the aircraft had to face modern fighters. Weal traces the story of the Bf 110 through to the final disastrous attempts to use it against American heavy bombers.
