The Gotha G.II and G.III bombers made their appearance in 1916. The two bombers were remarkably similar, differing only in their engines and internal details. The G.II entered service in March of 1916 and was powered by a pair of 164kW six-cylinder liquid-cooled Mercedes DIV engines mounted in a pusher configuration. Some 15 G.IIs were used in the Balkans until they were withdrawn due to unreliable engines.

Both aircraft were armed with two 7.92mm Maxim IMG Parabellum machine guns - one in the nose and another in the aft fuselage - and carried approximately 540kg of bombs. A few G.IIs and G.IIIs were equipped with a trapdoor in the undersurface of the rear fuselage, which permitted the rear gunner to take up a prone position and fire aft or downwards from a ventral position to defend the bomber's vulnerable 'blind spot.'