The Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito was a fast twin-engined German night fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank and produced by Focke-Wulf during late World War II. Only a few were produced, proving to have less impressive performance than the prototypes. Kurt Tank's team at Focke-Wulf had been working for some time on a fast attack-bomber aircraft named Ta 211, so named because it planned to use an uprated Jumo 211R engine. The intended "Ta 211" design was a high-wing twin-engined design, built primarily of plywood, bonded with a special phenolic resin adhesive called Tego film. The only large-scale use of metal was in the pressurized cockpit. The project's designation was changed to Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM—Ministry of Aviation) airframe number 8-154 (hence Ta 154) when it became apparent that the most suitable engine for the aircraft was the more powerful Jumo 213, and that Junkers could not deliver the Jumo 211R in time due to technical and production problems. The 154 was also allocated the name "Moskito" as a form of recognition of the Royal Air Force's (RAF) de Havilland Mosquito. It was at about this time that the light and very fast de Havilland Mosquito, also made of wood, arrived over Germany. It quickly racked up an impressive record; in its first 600 bombing missions, only one was shot down, compared to an average of 5% for RAF medium and heavy bombers. Erhard Milch personally requested a purpose-built German answer, and selected the 154. Infighting within German circles started almost immediately, because the RLM and night fighter units — as well as Ernst Heinkel himself — still wanted the Heinkel He 219. Milch took this personally, and spent the better part of the next two years trying to have the 219 program terminated, partly against Ernst Heinkel's wishes.
