Messerschmitt Me 321 Gigant
airplane
The Messerschmitt Me 321 Gigant was a large German cargo glider developed and used during World War II. Intended to support large-scale invasions, the Me 321 had very limited use due to the low availability of suitable tug aircraft, high vulnerability whilst in flight, and its difficult ground handling, both at base and at destination landing sites. The Me 321 was developed, in stages, into the six-engined Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant, which removed some of the problems with ground handling, although the payload was reduced.
Vulnerability to ground fire and aerial attack remained a constant problem during operations of all variants.
Development
During the preparations for a possible invasion of Britain during World War II (Operation Sea Lion) the Luftwaffe's Transport Command saw an obvious need for a larger-capacity cargo- and troop-carrying aircraft than its mainstay, the Junkers Ju 52.
Germany shelved plans for Operation Sea Lion in December 1940, and while planning for the invasion of the USSR (Operation Barbarossa) they determined that gliders were a cost-effective solution for the problem of air transport. Accordingly, the Technical Bureau of the Luftwaffe issued a tender for rapid development of a Grossraumlastensegler ("large-capacity transport glider") to the aircraft manufacturers Junkers and Messerschmitt. The specification called for the glider to be capable of carrying either an 88 mm gun plus its tractor, or a medium tank. The codename Projekt Warschau (Project Warsaw) was used, with Junkers being given the codename Warschau-Ost and Messerschmitt Warschau-Süd.
The Junkers design, the Ju 322 Mammut was unsuccessful, though, due to the company opting to use all-wood construction. Messerschmitt's design for this transport glider consequently secured the contract for the company.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1365782. The Library of Congress control number is sh85083985. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1940.
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