The project came about when the Luftwaffe was seeking an emergency interceptor to combat the allied bombing raids over Nazi Germany in the last years of World War II.

Then it would ignite its single Walter HWK 109-509 rocket engine and dive towards the enemy bomber fleet at a 45-degree angle.

Shortly before contact it would release its explosive nose, equipped with a proximity fuze, into the center of the combat box formation in a way that it would damage as many bombers as possible.

Owing to the extreme risks for the pilot inherent in the operation of this aircraft, the Sombold So 344 is sometimes listed as a suicide weapon.

A 1/5 scale model was built for aerodynamic tests, however the project was abandoned shortly before the end of the European conflict.