In 1942, the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (Reich Air Ministry, RLM) put forward an initiative to obtain a long-range bomber for the Luftwaffe that would be capable of striking the continental United States from Germany.

Arado had begun its own independent project design work for a future jet flying wing bomber in late 1943; up until that time other manufacturers, such as Heinkel (by the February 1943 timeframe),[1] Messerschmitt, Focke-Wulf and Junkers had piston-engined intercontinental bomber designs under various stages of consideration and initial prototype testing per the RLM's request.

Several different E.555 design configurations were proposed and considered; the Arado team's overall goal for the project was an aircraft with high speed, long range and capable of carrying a four-ton (4,000 kg) bomb load.

The trijet E.555 VI had the longest wingspan of all the proposals at 28.4 m (93 ft) and range (carrying supplementary fuel tanks) of 7,500 km (4,700 mi).

The aircraft were to be powered using a jet engine which had not completed development as of 1944, the 34.3 kN (7,700 lbf) thrust BMW 018; from two to six of these powerplants in each of the proposed E.555 designs.