The
BMW 109-003 was designed in response to a 1938
Reichsluftsfahrt-
ministerium (RLM or State Air Ministry) request to develop a jet
propulsion. The first BMW 003 ran in 1940 and first flew in
1942. Production began in late-1943 or early-1944.
About 3,500 had been produced by the end of 1944,
most never reaching airframe plants.
