The Fw 190D was the final mass-produced evolution of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter family. Although often viewed as a late-war innovation, its development began in 1941 when Germany sought fighters capable of combating high-altitude, turbocharged Allied bombers. Early high-altitude prototypes—the Fw 190B (turbocharged radial engine) and Fw 190C (DB 603 inline engine)—suffered major technical issues and never entered production.
A breakthrough came with the improved Jumo 213 inline engine. The first Jumo-powered prototype flew in 1942, but the new engine made the aircraft nose-heavy. Engineers corrected this by lengthening the fuselage and enlarging the vertical tail, keeping modifications minimal. After rejecting early D-series attempts (D-0, D-1, D-2), the refined Fw 190D-9 with the Jumo 213A entered production in August 1944.
As the war closed, additional subtypes were developed. The D-11 and D-13, powered by the more advanced Jumo 213F, reached limited production, while later planned variants—D-10, D-12, D-14, and the DB 603-powered D-15—remained prototypes.
Overall, an estimated 1,500–1,700 Fw 190D fighters were built, though only about 900 were officially taken into Luftwaffe service, and far fewer reached operational units due to the collapse of Germany's wartime infrastructure.