The Messerschmitt Bf 109, the most mass-produced fighter of Hitler's Germany, appeared in 1934 in response to the Luftwaffe's request for the latest single-engine monoplane fighter. The prototype's first flight took place on May 28, 1935, and from 1936 to 1942, 6 models were built — from the Bf 109 A "Anton" to the Bf 109 G "Gustav."

One of the problems faced by the Luftwaffe's fighter units was the different nature of the fighting on the eastern and western fronts. While in the East the fighting took place at low and medium altitudes, in the West the main enemy was high-altitude heavy bombers and escort fighters. To combat them, high-altitude fighter variants and engines were developed. Thus the DB 605AS engine was developed, with a supercharger from the DB 603 engine to increase its altitude. This variant ran on 87-octane B4 fuel. Later, some aircraft were equipped with the DB 605ASM engine with the ability to run on C3 fuel (96 octane) and the installation of the MW 50 boost system. This increased the power to 1800 hp.

It was planned to install more powerful engines, such as the DB 605ASB — it could use B4 fuel with the MW 50 boost system or C3 fuel without it and developed power up to 1850 hp. Also planned was the DB 605ASC engine, which used C3 gasoline with the MW 50 boost system and developed power up to 2000 hp, but reliable data on the use of ASB and ASC engines have not been preserved.

The increased diameter of the supercharger required designing a new, much more spacious cowling. The bulges on the cowl were longer and smoother and covered the supercharger as well as the breech blocks of the machine guns. The left and right sides of the cowl were of different lengths. In addition to the cowl, the aircraft was fitted with a new tail section with a taller tail and an improved "Erla" type cockpit canopy with a significantly reduced number of metal parts on the frame, which improved rearward visibility. This canopy was usually combined with the so-called "Galland armor," which was the replacement of the armor plate (which protected the pilot’s head) with armored glass.

The first Bf 109 G-6/ASs were assigned to the combat units III./JG 1, I./JG 5, and II./JG 11 at the beginning of April 1944. In May, I./JG 3 began to receive these fighters. In June, II./JG 27 received its first Bf 109 G-6/ASs (out of a total of 152 aircraft, including 92 new or converted G-6s). In July 1944 several Bf 109 G-6/ASs were assigned to 1./NJGr 10, and a small number were transferred from I./JG1 to III./JG300. A total of 686 Bf 109 G-6/ASs were built, but only 226 of them were produced in series at the Regensburg factory. The rest were converted from conventional Bf 109 G-6s at Erla, Mimetal, and Blohm und Voss.

At low altitudes, an aircraft without the MW 50 system was practically equal to or slightly worse than conventional Gustavs, but with the boost system, it was superior. At high altitudes, due to the installation of a new supercharger, all characteristics were better than any other Messerschmitt.