[1] The Fw 189 was developed during the late 1930s to fulfil a specification issued by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) for an advanced short-range reconnaissance aircraft to succeed the Henschel Hs 126 in the tactical support role provided by the Luftwaffe to the Wehrmacht.

During July 1938, the first prototype performed its maiden flight; early testing of the Fw 189 demonstrated its superiority over the Ar 198, and thus the RLM backed its development and subsequent quantity production.

An important function of the Luftwaffe was to provide tactical support to the Wehrmacht; the envisioned aircraft was intended to be an advanced successor to the Henschel Hs 126, which had only just started service trials.

[2] Arado opted to respond with the relatively conventional Ar 198, which was a single-engined high-wing monoplane with a glazed gondola underneath the fuselage.

The Fw 189 had as part of its defensive armament, a novel rear-gun emplacement designed by the Ikaria-Werke: a rotating conical rear "turret" of sorts, manually rotated with a metal-framed, glazed conical fairing streamlining its shape, with the open section providing the firing aperture for either a single or twin machine-gun at the unit's circular-section forward mount.

[6] The first of these four aircraft was representative of the production standard Fw 189A, being powered by a pair of Argus As 410A-1 V-12 inverted piston engines, capable of generating up to 465 PS (459 hp; 342 kW) and a reduced defensive armament comprising only two machine guns.

[6] During late 1939, Focke-Wulf withdrew the first prototype from the flight test programme to adapt it into their response to a request from the RLM for a dedicated close air support aircraft.

While this version was formally evaluated, the competing Henschel Hs 129 was selected instead, partly due to its smaller size and reduced production cost.

[9] While the company's design team continued to work on advanced variants of the Fw 189 into early 1944, production of the type was permanently ended in mid-1944 in response to Germany's declining military situation, which compelled the termination of various aircraft programmes to concentrate resources.

[12] While operational trials of the type were quite successful, Luftwaffe officials concluded that there was little advantage to withdrawing the existing Hs 126s in favour of Fw 189s.

[15] It was nicknamed "Rama" ("frame" in the Russian, Ukrainian and Polish languages) by Soviet forces, referring to its distinctive tail boom, fin and elevator shapes, giving it a quadrangular appearance.

[citation needed] Small numbers of A-1s were used as night fighters in the closing weeks of the conflict – the aircraft were modified by having their reconnaissance equipment removed and then fitted with FuG 212 AI radar in the nose and a single obliquely-firing 20 mm MG FF autocannon in the common Schräge Musik upwards/forward-firing offensive fitment also used for heavier German night fighters, like the Bf 110G.

Mothes survived two weeks in sub-zero temperatures, evading Soviet patrols while eating bark and grubs as he walked back to his base.

It was reported that this aircraft was acquired by Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection [citation needed] and was in rebuild at Duxford to an airworthy condition, but as of August 1, 2021 was listed for sale.

[17] Data from Die Deutsche Luftrüstung 1933–1945 Vol.2 – Flugzeugtypen Erla-Heinkel,[18] German Aircraft of the Second World War[19]General characteristics Performance Armament