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Dr. Alexander Lippisch moved to the Messerschmitt Aircraft Company in Augsburg on January 2, 1939. He also took many of his closest coworkers, including Engineer Stender, who worked on the design of the project Li P.10 in the autumn of 1942, which eventually became the Messerschmitt Me 265 (although some sources state that this number was not an official RLM designation). This design was to use as many of the components as possible of the Messerschmitt Me 210. The Me 265, along with the Me 329 project which evolved from the P.04 project, were developed for comparison with the Me 410.
          The Me 265 was designed to be a tailless, twin-engine, twin-seat "Zerstörer" (destroyer) aircraft. The wing was of a delta shape, and was mounted high on the fuselage. The wing was swept a little more on the outer wing panels than the inner edges, and was constructed entirely of metal. A single fin and rudder (with a trim tab) was provided. The fuselage front was taken from the Me 210, and the lower tail was bulged downwards to keep the propellers from striking the ground on takeoff. Two Daimler Benz DB 603 liquid-cooled 12 cylinder engines with 1745 horsepower were built into the rear of the wing, driving four-bladed propellers. The main wheels retracted inwards towards the fuselage, and the nose wheel retracted to the rear. Two men sat back-to-back in the cockpit, where the radio operator/observer remotely controlled the two MG 131 13 mm machine guns, located on the rear fuselage sides (also taken from the Me 210, and later used on the Me 410). Forward firing armament consisted of 2 MG 151/20 20mm cannon and two MG 17 7.9mm machine guns. A long bomb bay was located under the fuselage. This design was not followed to completion because the Me 410 was chosen for series production.