Chipan Aircraft and Missiles

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Japanese Army Aircraft 1930-1950
Fighters
Ki-27. Nakajima Type 97 fighter, CADS Code Name Anne. Lightweight fighter entered service in 1938. Obsolete from 1942 but retained in service due to ability to operate from short, unprepared airstrips. Last examples withdrawn from service in 1946.

Ki-28 Kawasaki experimental fighter. Abandoned in favor of Ki-27

Ki-33 Mitsubishi experimental fighter derived from A5M carrier fighter. Abandoned in favor of K-27

Ki-37 Nakajima experimental twin-engined fighter. Abandoned in favor of Ki-45

Ki-38 Kawasaki experimental twin-engined fighter. Developed into Ki-45

Ki-39 Mitsubishi experimental twin-engined fighter. Abandoned in favor of Ki-45

Ki-43 Nakajima Type 1 fighter Hayabusa. CADS Code Name Belle. Entered service in 1941 and quickly became most feared of Japanese fighters operating over China. Production ended in 1944 and last aircraft withdrawn from service by 1945.

Ki-44 Nakajima Type 2 fighter Shoki. CADS Code Name Claire. Entered service in 1942 as interceptor intended for defense of Japanese homeland. Later deployed in China for protection of cities occupied by Japanese forces. Production ended 1944, last aircraft withdrawn from service in 1946.

Ki-45 Kawasaki twin-engined fighter Type 1 CADS Code Name Dell. Entered service in 1941 as long-range fighter and ground attack aircraft. Progressively improved throughout war in China and remained in service until the early 1950s.

Ki-53 Nakajima twin-engined fighter to replace Ki-45. Abandoned.

Ki-60 Kawasaki experimental fighter. Abandoned in favor of Ki-61

Ki-61 Kawasaki Type 3 fighter Hien. CADS Code Name Emma. Entered service in 1943 as first Japanse monoplane fighter with a liquid-cooled engine. Unreliable powerplant restricted production. Remained in service until replaced by Ki-100.

Ki-62 Nakajima experimental fighter. Abandoned in favor of Ki-61.

Ki-63 Nakajima experimental fighter. Greatly improved version of Ki-43 but abandoned in favor of Ki-84

Ki-64 Kawasaki twin-engined experimental fighter. Very unusual design with both engines buried in fuselage. Design was abandoned in 1946 after severe engine fires due to inadequate cooling.

Ki-65 Mansyu experimental fighter. Abandoned.

Ki-73 Mitsubishi experimental fighter. Promising design but engines proved extremely unreliable and development had to be abandoned. Re-engined version became Ki-83

Ki-75 Nakajima experimental nightfighter. Abandoned due to lack of suitable radar.

Ki-83 Mitsubishi Type 6 twin-engined fighter CADS Code Name Inga. High-performance fighter first entering service in late 1945. Saw action in final years of China conflict and in border incidents with Russia and Thailand. Career was exclipsed by growing importance of jets but remained in front-line service until 1955. Numerous aircraft of this type were supplied to “New Schwabia” in the late 1950s and were destroyed when that state was liberated by Russian forces in 1959

Ki-84 Nakajima Type 4 fighter Hayate, CADS Code Name Gail.. Usually regarded as being the best of the Japanese Army’s single piston-engined fighters, the first Ki-84s entered service in 1944 as a replacement for both the Ki-43 and the Ki-44. The first examples equipped Japanese home defense squadrons with later production going to the Chinese fighter units. By 1947 the Ki-84 was the most numerous fighter in Japanese service. However, the introduction of jet fighters rendered in quickly obsolete. Ironically, its high performance doomed it, the Ki-84 required fully-equipped airfields so it was replaced by jet fighters first while lower-performance aircraft that did not require such elaborate facilities soldiered on. Ki-84s were sold to New Schwabia and were also amongst the first aircraft operated by The Caliphate.

Ki-87 Nakajima Type 6 High altitude Fighter Tengu. CADS Code Name Helle.Single-engined fighter with turbosupercharged 3,000 hp Nakajima Ha-46 engine. First Japanese fighter to have a service ceiling in excess of 40,000 feet, being capable of sustained flight at 42,000 feet. Entered service in Japanese Army home defense groups in 1946 apaprently in response to perceived threat from B-29 aircraft. When B-36 aircraft emerged, the Ki-87-II was introduced into service. This was stripped of all unnecessary weight, had its armament reduced to two 7.7mm machine guns and had the engine boosted until its life was reduced to a few hours. In this configuration, the Ki-87-II could reach 48,000 feet. The aircraft remained in service until 1953.

Ki-88 Kawasaki experimental fighter similar to P-63 Kingcobra. Abandoned.

Ki-89 Nakajima experimental jet fighter. Conversion of Ki-84 Hayate with German-supplied BMW-003 engine (developing 1,750 pounds thrust) mounted under its nose. Very similar in appearance to Yak-15. A chronically underpowered and unreliable engine meant that the aircraft was rejected for service since it was slower than the piston-engined version.

Ki-94 Tachikawa Type 6 High Altitude Fighter CADS Code Name Fran. Originally developed as a rival to the Ki-87, the emergence of the B-36 saw both types put into full production. The Ki-94 had better high altitude performance than the Ki-87 and thus saw greater production but both aircraft proved inadequate to intercept the B-36 and RB-36 aircraft. Several Ki-94s attempted such intercepts on overflying B-36s but failed and some were lost when they spun out and were unable to recover . The Ki-94 was withdrawn from service in 1954 when the arrival of the American B-60 underlined the obsolescence of the piston-engined fighters

Ki-96 Kawasaki Type 6 Heavy fighter CADS Code Name June. Twin-engined fighter intended to replace Ki-45. Production limited due to rising importance of jets but saw service in limited numbers. Exported to New Schwabia and The Caliphate in the late 1950s.

Ki-99 Mitsubishi Experimental single-engined fighter. This aircraft was essentially a jet-engined version of the Navy J2M Raiden piston-engined fighter. The Navy had no interest in the development but problems with the various proposals to build a jet-engined version of the Ki-84 caused the Army to take an interest in the Mitsubishi design. The portly fuselage of the Ki-99 proved amenable to jet engine installation and the conversion first flew in 1946. Its performance was equivalent to the Ki-84 and, with more powerful jet engines available, the type might have gone into production. However, the only available engines were the German BMW-003 (1,750 pounds thrust) and Jumo-004 (2,000 pounds thrust) and the Japanese-designed Ne-20 (1,600 pounds thrust). By the time the 2,200 pound thrust Ne-30 was available, the Ki-99 was considered dated and no further development was undertaken.

Ki-100 Kawasaki Type 4 single-engined fighter, CADS Code Name Kate. A radial-engined version of the Ki-61 fighter, the Ki-100 was the last piston-engined single-seat single-engine fighter to enter large-scale Japanese service. Lighter, faster and more manoeverable than the Ki-61 it was an instant success, being considered more reliable and easier to fly than the Ki-84. A later version, the Ki-100-II had a turbocharged engine that allowed it to reach 40,000 feet. Although not considered a high-altitude fighter and not capable of intercepting a B-36, the Ki-100-II was a good all-round performer and remained in service until 1957.

Ki-102 Kawasaki Type 4 heavy fighter. CADS Code Name Lily. Originally conceived as a lightweight version of the Ki-96, the Ki-102 proved to be a highly successful twin-engined fighter. Its combination of heavy armament, speed and agility made it a popular aircraft and it quickly replaced the Ki-96 and Ki-83 on the production lines. In 1949, a version with turbo-supercharged engines, the Ki-102-II was introduced that displaved a service ceiling of 48,500 feet. This, combined with its high-velocity 57mm gun was considered to give it an acceptable level of capability against B-36 type targets. The Ki-102-II equipped home and mainland air defense units until it was replaced by jet engined aircraft in the mid 1950s.

Ki-103 Mitsubishi Experimental Heavy Fighter. A jet-engined version of the Ki-83, the usual problems of underpowered jet engines and an airframe optimized for piston engines defeated this design proposal.

Ki-104 Tachikawa Experimental Fighter. A version of the Ki-94 powered by an Ne-20 jet engine. Extremely disappointing performance made it unacceptable as a service aircraft and the prototypes were used for the Ne-20 and Ne-30 engine development programs.

Ki-106 Tachikawa Type 7 Fighter CADS Code Name Maggie. The first successful conversion of the Ki-84 airframe to take a jet engine, the Ki-106 was a pod-and-boom design similar to the Russian Yak-15. It offered a significant advance over the Ki-84 and replaced it on the production lines. Powered by a Japanese copy of the Jumo-004, the Ki-106 was underpowered but was considered suitable as a trainer.

Ki-108 Kawasaki Experimental High Altitude Fighter. A proposed single-seat high-altitude version of the Ki-102, the Ki-108 was overtaken by a less-radical modification of the Ki-102 and was abandoned.

Ki-109 Mitsubishi Type 6 High Altitude Heavy Fighter. CADS Code Name Nell. Working on the basis that neither available fighters nor available anti-aircraft guns could reach a B-36 flying at its cruising altitude, Mitsubishi conceived the idea of carrying an anti-aircraft gun up to the point where it could fire on B-36s by mounting it in the nose of a Ki-67 bomber. The resulting aircraft was thought to have a marginal capability against the B-36 and about 100 Ki-109s were built, being Japan’s primary air defense against the B-36 until the Ki-102-II was available.

Ki-113 Nakajima Type 8 Fighter CADS Code Name Olive. A redesigned version of the Ki-106, the Ki-113 had a nosewheel undercarriage and was powered by the new Ne-30 engine delivering 2,200 pounds of thrust. It was considered to be a practical jet fighter and was placed in production, replacing the Ki-84 in Japanese Army fighter units. It remained in front-line units until the late 1950s and was still seen in second line service in the early 1960s. Fighters of this type formed The Caliphate’s first jet fighter units, several aircraft of this type being shot down by Russian MiG-21 fighters in the border incidents of 1961-62.

Ki-116 Nakajima Type 9 Fighter CADS Code Name Penny. Yet a further refinement of the Ki-113, the Ki-116 featured a redesigned canopy, thinner wings and a more powerful engine (an Ne-30 rated at 2,420 pounds thrust). It was produced alongside the Ki-113 since pilots were divided in their opinions over the merits of its higher speed which was obtained by accepting reduced manoeuverability.

Ki-117 Nakajima Experimental High Altitude Fighter. Jet-engined version of Ki-87. Abandoned in favor of Ki-116.

Ki-118 Mitsubishi Experimental Heavy Fighter. Version of Ki-112 with 75mm anti-aircraft gun in its nose. Eseentially a jet-engined version of the Ki-109. Not produced.

Ki-120 Nakajima Type 6 twin-engined fighter Kairyu. CADS Code Name Queen. A development inspired by pictures of the German Me-262 but actually a much smaller and lighter aircraft. As a result, this aircraft had similar performance to the Me-262 despite the low power of its Ne-20 jet engines. This was the first operational Japanese jet fighter and saw action over China. It suffered from being short-ranged and lightly armed, being equipped only with a pair of 20mm cannon. It was issued to units that were still flying Ki-43 aircraft and remained in service until the early 1950s.

Ki-121 Nakajima Type 7 twin engined fighter. CADS Code Name Kendra. In 1944, the Germans transferred a great amount of aircraft and jet engine technology to Japan in an attempt to persuade the Japanese to open a second front against the Russians. One such delivery included a complete Me-262 jet fighter and a number of BMW-003 and Jumo-004 engines. Other deliveries included plans for a number of advanced German aircraft projects and and the Heinkel-Hirth HeS-011 engine. The Nakajima company reverse-engineered the Me-262 for Japanese production. The aircraft entered service in 1947 and quickly replaced older jet aircraft on the production lines. This aircraft is sometimes erroneously called the Ki-262. It remained in service until the late 1950s.

Ki-122 Mitsubishi Type 7 Shusui rocket-engined fighter. CADS Code Name Rae. Part of the German technology transfusion also consisted of information on the Me-163 and Me-263 Komet rocket fighters, examples of the rocket engines and dismantled samples of the aircraft. The Japanese Navy built the Me-163 as the J8M while the Army concentrated on the Me-263 as the Ki-122. Both aircraft were extensively deployed as point defenses around Japanese cities and naval/army bases. They remained in service until the late 1950s although their ability to intercept American bombers was never more than marginal. The rocket technology was, however, applied to a number of Japanese aircraft, hybrid jet-rocket fighters becoming a significant part of the Japanese force structure in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Ki-126 Tachikawa Type 8 Single engined fighter. CADS Code Name Layla. Another German import, the Ki-126 was a Japanese-built version of the Focke-Wulf Ta-183. Despite the grossly exagerrated legends that have grown up about this aircraft, both the Ta-183 and the Ki-126 were grave disappointments in service. Underpowered due to the non-availability of the HeS-011 engine (designed for 2,860 pounds thrust, this engine proved a complete failure and - Russian, German and Japanese designers all failing to get the engine to work at all), the Ta-183/Ki-126 was slow, clumsy and extremely dangerous to fly. It suffered from spanwise drift that caused it to stall and spin in tight turns, its spinning characteristics were such that it could not recover once the spin was fully developed and it had a vicious left-wing drop that resulted in a flat spin whenever the aircraft exceeded 625 mph. Entering service in 1948, the Ki-126 had been withdrawn from use by 1950. With its demise, German influence over Japanese aircraft design ended.

Ki-129 Nakajima Experimental twin-engined fighter. An “advanced” version of the Me-262, the Ki-129 was equipped with two Ne-40 jet engines. Despite having almost twice as much power as the original Me-262, the Ki-129 showed virtually no improvement in performance. By this time, German designs were unfavorably regarded by the Japanese Army and the Ki-129 was abandoned in favor of the Ki-130.

Ki-130 Kawasaki Type 13 twin-engined fighter. CADS Code Name Sally. Although it superficially resembled the Ki-102, the Ki-130 was actually a new design that inherited little more than a casual similarity to the earlier aircraft. The Ki-130 was powered by two Ne-50 jet engines, giving it a speed of 660 miles per hour at 32,000 feet and a service ceiling of 52,500 feet. It was, therefore, a viable threat to the B-36. Early versions were armed with a 57mm cannon and two 20mm guns but later variants carried three 30mm guns and two air-to-air missiles. The Ki-130 was selected to replace the few remaining Ki-45s, the Ki-83, Ki-87, Ki-94, Ki-96, Ki-120 and the Ki-121 heavy fighters along with the Ki-51, Ki-71 and Ki-93 light bombers. As with other Japanese standardization programs in the 1950s, this took time to accomplish but was eventually achieved with the Chipanese heavy fighter force standardizing on the Ki-130 and the Ki-102 until the latter was replaced by the Ki-XXX Brandi.

Medium/Heavy Bombers
Ki-21 Mitsubishi Type 97 medium bomber CADS Code Name Dan. Primary medium bomber used by Japanese Army throughout China War. Outlasted intended replacement Ki-49 and examples still seen over China in early 1950s.

Ki-42. Mitsubishi experimental bomber intended to replace Ki-21. Abandoned.

Ki-48 Kawasaki Type 99 twin-engined medium bomber, CADS Code Name Fred. Entered service in 1941 and started to replace the Ki-32. Slow and poorly armed, the aircraft was named “Yasukuni” by its crews and was withdrawn from service by 1944.

Ki-49 Nakajima Type 100 twin-engined medium bomber Donryu. CADS Code Name Greg. Intended replacement for the Ki-21, it was faster and better armed than the older aircraft but was difficult and unpleasant to fly. It was withdrawn from service in 1945 and replaced by the Ki-67

Ki-50 Mitsubishi experimental heavy bomber. Project abandoned

Ki-58 Escort bomber version of Ki-49. Abandoned.

Ki-66 Kawasaki twin engined medium dive bomber. Intended as replacement for the Ki-48 but showed no improvement in military characteristics so was abandoned.

Ki-67 Mitsubishi Type 4 twin-engined medium bomber Hiryu. CADS Code Name Ike. Introduced into service in mid-1943 and replaced eventually all Ki-21, Ki-48 and Ki-49 aircraft in Japanese Army service. Remained in front-line service until late 1950s and a few were still in second line service in mid-1964.

Ki-68 Nakajima Type 6 four-engined Heavy Bomber Shinzan. CADS Code Name Jack. First Japanese heavy bomber. Unsuccessful due to unreliable engines and overweight airframe but produced as training aircraft. Some also used by Japanese Navy as maritime reconnaissance aircraft.

Ki-69 Mitsubishi escort bomber derivative of Ki-67. Abandoned.

Ki-74 Tachikawa Type 5 medium bomber. CADS Code Name Larry. First Japanese bomber to have pressurized crew compartment and turbocharged engines. Production rate was slow with only 16 aircraft being completed between 1944 and 1945. Speeded up during later years but production difficulties meant deployment was limited to a single group. Last examples produced 1952, withdrawn from service by 1960.

Ki-80 Nakajima Experimental escort bomber derived from Ki-49. Two built but judged to be failures and the project was abandoned.

Ki-81 Mitsubishi experimental escort bomber derived form Ki-48. Complete failure and abandoned.

Ki-82 Nakajima experimental twin-engined long-range bomber. Abandoned due to design deficiencies

Ki-85 Kawanishi four engined heavy bomber project. Abandoned

Ki-90 Mitsubishi experimental bomber. Rejected since it offered no advantages over Ki-67

Ki-91 Kawasaki Type 7 heavy bomber. CADS Code Name Moe. Successful strategic bomber design produced by Japanese Army. Designed performance was comparable with the B-29 with a speed of 360 mph, a maximum range of 6,214 miles, a service ceiling of 39,000 feet and a bombload of 8,800 pounds. In fact, these performance expectations were not met although the Ki-91 did achieve a respectable performance level. Post 1952, the Ki-91 was one of the Japanese aircraft designated as a nuclear weapons carrier although its chances of penetrating American air defenses were slender. By 1955 the Ki-91 was no longer viable as a penetrating bomber and it was progressively withdrawn from that role, most survivors being converted into airborne tankers.

Ki-101 Mitsubishi Type 8 medium bomber CADS Code Name Pete. The Ki-101 was essentially a jet-engined version of the Ki-67 Hiryu. It retained the fuselage, wings and tailwheel undercarriage of the older aircraft but was powered by two Jumo-004 engines in wing nacelles. The aircraft was seriously underpowered and was actually slower than the Ki-67 in some flight regimes but it was placed in production as a trainer and stopgap until the much-superior Ki-112 jet bomber was available.

Ki-112 Mitsubishi Type 10 medium bomber CADS Code Name Quint. The Ki-112 was an advanced development of the Ki-101 with a redesigned fuselage equipped with a nosewheel undercarriage and powered by four Ne-20 jet engines (total thrust 6,160 pounds) mounted side-by-side in wing nacelles. The Ki-112 offered a significant performance and payload advantages over the Ki-67 but lacked that aircraft’s handling advantages and reliability. The Ki-112 only saw limited service.

Ki-123 Mitsubishi Type 8 medium bomber CADS Code Name Steve. The Ki-123 was another German-based design that entered Japanese service. The Ki-123 was a version of the Arado 234A. The aircraft was considered inadequate and poorly-designed by the Japanese who found its skid undercarriage and general operational characteristics unacceptable.

Ki-125 Mitsubishi Experimental Heavy Bomber. Another German import, the Ki-125 was the Japanese version of the Ju-287, a radical design featuring forward-swept wings and six Jumo-004 engines. The prototype disintegrated on take-off and a design analysis showed that the German design had only 52 percent of the structural strength required to maintain integrity under normal flying loads. The design was abandoned in favor of Japanese developments and the fiasco gave strength to the growing disquiet in Japanese circles over the quality of German design work.

Ki-127 Mitsubishi Type 11 medium bomber CADS Code Name Uncle. The Ki-125 was the definitive development of the line that had started with the Ki-101. Powered by two Ne-50 engines developing 4,400 pounds of thrust each, the Ki-127 used a simplified version of the Ki-112 fuselage with the upper turret and waist blisters removed. The crew was reduced from eight to four and the armament restricted to single 20mm cannons in the nose and tail. The wings were essentially new and were optimized for high-speed jet flight. The bombload was still very small by current standards, being restricted to 4,400 pounds. By the time the aircraft entered service, the number of different types of aircraft in the Japanese inventory was causing increasing concern. Accordingly it was decided that the medium bomber force would standardize on the Ki-67 and Ki-127 with the latter re-equipping all the non-Ki-67 groups. This took some years to achieve but by the late 1950s had been met. A later version of the Ki-127 was equipped with more powerful Ne-55 engines delivering 6,600 pounds of thrust and was intended for the delivery of tactical nuclear weapons.

Light Bombers
Ki-29 Tachikawa experimental light bomber. Abandoned in favor of Ki-30

Ki-30 Mitsubishi Type 97 light bomber, CADS Code Name Art. Entered service 1938. Used extensively in China and by Thai Air Force against French in 1941. Withdrawn from front-line service by 1944.

Ki-31 Nakajima experimental light bomber. Abandoned in favor of Ki-30

Ki-32 Kawasaki Type 98 light bomber, CADS Code Name Bert. Entered service 1938. Preferred to Ki-30 due to greater manoeuverability and better performance but liquid-cooled engine troublesome. Withdrawn from front-line service by 1943.

Ki-47 Mitsubishi experimental light bomber intended to replace Ki-30. Abandoned

Ki-51 Mitsubishi Type 99 light bomber. CADS Code Name Harv. Replaced Ki-30 and Ki-32 in service. Tactical support aircraft widely used in China. Several aircraft of this type shot down during 1949 Mekong Border Incident. Withdrawn from service in early 1950s.

Ki-52 Nakajima light bomber. Competitor to Ki-51. Abandoned

Ki-71 Mansu Type 5 light bomber. CADS Code Name Ken. Improved derivative of Ki-51 with 20mm cannon in wings and retractable undercarriage. Entered service in 1945 and continued in use until mid-1950s. As with all Japanese Army light bombers, its ability to operate from short, unprepared strips made up for its vulnerability and low payload

Ki-93 Rikugun Type 6 light bomber. CADS code name Nick. Heavily-armored ground attack aircraft possibly inspired by American A-38 Grizzly and Australian Commonwealth Ostrich. Intended to replace light bombers suich as the Ki-51 and Ki-71 it was too large and heavy to copy their essential characteristic, an ability to operate off bases only a few minutes from the front lines. Production of the Ki-93 was limited as a result and the type quickly faded from front-line service.

Ki-98 Mansyu Type 7 Ground attack bomber CADS Code name Oscar. Experience in China had shown that the majority of casualties to light bomber units were not caused by dedicated anti-aircraft defenses but by rifle and machinegun fire from infantry. The Mansyu Ki-98 was designed to replace the earlier Ki-51 and Ki-71 light bombers, retaining their ability to operate from short strips in forward areas but featuring much improved protection for the pilot, engine and flight systems. A radical configuration was adopted witha pusher piston engine between two tail booms. The aircraft entered service in 1947 but production was slow and it did not finally replace the older aircraft until the mid-1950s. By then it was already obsolescent but it soldiered on until finally being withdrawn in the early 1960s.

Ki-115 Nakajima Type 5 Special Attacker CADS Code Name Slime. The out-of-sequence CADS codename describes this aircraft perfectly. The Ki-115 was specially designed to deliver chemical and biological weapons, being fitted with fuselage tanks and underwing spray equipment. The type was extensively used in China between 1945 and 1947 and is credited with finally bringing about the breakthrough of the Japanese armies in the China Incident.

Ki-119 Kawasaki Type 6 Attack Bomber. CADS Code Name Randy. By 1944, the Japanese were becoming aware that the majority of their aircraft compared very poorly with American design in terms of payload. Inspired by the then-new Douglas AD-1 (Adie) Skyraider, Kawasaki were instructed to build a bomb truck powered by a single large piston engine. Powered by a 2,500hp engine, the Ki-119 lifted a 4,400 pound bombload and was armed with two 20mm cannon. The addition of this type to the inventory provoked a crisis in the Japanese Army with an outcry that there were too many different aircraft entering service and that research and development was falling behind because it was spread too thin between different projects. Nevertheless, the Ki-119 went into production and served throughout the 1950s. The type was sold to New Schwabia and was used in air attacks on the bridges over the Volga during the Russian liberation of that area. Others were sold to The Caliphate and a few found their way to African and South American countries

Ki-131 Mitsubishi Type 17 Light Attack aircraft. CADS Code Name Will. By the early 1950, the Japanese Army had already come to the conclusion that its light bomber fleet was heading down a blind development ally. The old concept light bombers, exemplified by the Ki-51 and Ki-71 were too vulnerable to be used over infantry lavishly equipped with automatic weapons. The later light bombers were less vulnerable but were too complex and heavy to be deployed in frontal areas. They decided that the latter group, mostly Ki-93 and Ki-98 were essentially a waste of resources and they would best be replaced by heavy fighters. However, a need did exist for a lightweight, inexpensive aircraft for policing and internal patrol purposes. Mitsubishi offered a radical design for this requirement, powered by the new turboprop engines. The aircraft was a twin-boom design with a turboprop in each boom. The crew of two sat in a central gondola, armored against rifle fire. The aircraft was armed with four 7.7mm machineguns and could lift 3,300 pounds of bombs on five pylons. The Ki-131 was an immediate success and was built in very large numbers. It served extensively in peacekeeping and policing duties in China and was also widely exported to African and South American countries. Licensed production was also carried out in The Caliphate. The type is still in service worldwide.

Reconnaissance aircraft
Ki-35 Mitsubishi experimental army co-operation aircraft. Abandoned in favor of Ki-36

Ki-36 Tachikawa Type 98 army co-operation aircraft CADS Code Name Curly. Entered service 1939. Became valuable counter-insurgency aircraft in absence of enemy aircraft. Remained in service until 1945.

Ki-40 Mitsubishi experimental reconnaissance aircraft. Version of Ki-39, developed into Ki-46

Ki-46 Mitsubishi Type 100 reconnaissance aircraft. CADS Code Name Ed. Entered service in 1942 and proved invaluable as deep penetration reconnaissance aircraft. Continuously improved, the Ki-46 exhibited a blend qualities that proved hard to replace. The aircraft remained in production until the late 1960s and was still being reported in service over Tibet and Indochina in the early 1980s, forty years after its first flight.

Ki-70 Tachikawa twin-engined reconnaissance aircraft. Intended as replacement for Ki-46 but proved inferior in performance so was abandoned

Ki-72 Tachikawa tactical reconnaissance aircraft. Improved version of Ki-36 but not adopted for service.

Ki-95 Mitsubishi experimental reconnaissance aircraft. Version of the Ki-83 fighter proposed to replace the Ki-46. Not proceeded with due to superior overall performance of the Ki-46

Ki-124 Mitsubishi Type 9 command reconnaissance aircraft. CADS Code Name Tim. A version of Arado 234C reconnaissance aircraft. Shortage of range compared with the Ki-46 and inferior performance at extreme altitude meant that the Ki-124 never replaced the older piston-engined aircraft. Small numbers were built for tactical and operational reconnaissance. Never considered a succesful aircraft due to poor flying characteristics, unreliability and a habit of going to pieces without advance notice.

Ki-128 Mitsubishi Type 12 command reconnaissance aircraft. CADS Code Name Vick. Derivative of the Ki-127 with greatly lengthened wings for high-altitude reconnaissance. In service from 1952 and was still seen during the mid-1970s.

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Japanese Naval Fighters
Carrier-Based Fighters
Historical note: Mitsubishi almost monopolized this area of Japanese naval aircraft production. Japanese carrier based fighters suffered from two related problems; one was a lack of engine power that limited overall performance, the other was that the Japanese aircraft carriers all dated from the early 1940s and their size restricted the weight of aircraft deployed from them. The Japanese never built larger carriers and, as the older ship wore out, the potential production runs of naval aircraft shrank. As a result, the Japanese never developed a range of truly modern carrier-based fighters comparable with, for example, the F8U or the F4H.

Mitsubishi A5M, CADS Code Name Amy (later Alice) A lightweight but very successful Japanese naval fighter first deployed in early 1937. The mainstay of Japanese naval fighter units until 1941, the A5M was exceptionally agile but lightly armed. It remained in service until late 1943. When the CADS naming system was devised, the A5M was named Amy but it was feared this would be confused with the common nickname for the Martin AM-1 Mauler, “Amie” and the CADS reporting name was changed to Alice.

Mitsubishi A6M Zero, CADS Code Name Jane Probably the definitive Japanese naval fighter of the 1940s, the A6M was relatively fast, long-ranged, agile and heavily armed. Arguably it was the best carrier-based fighter of the early-mid 1940s and would probably have given a reasonable account of itself had it faced the US Navy. This was not to be and the A6M family never really got a chance to show what it was capable of and spent most of its life in the shadow of its better-known Army rivals. Despite its relative obscurity, the A6M had a long service life since later, heavier naval aircraft could not be operated from smaller Japanese carriers. The last variant of the A6M family, the A6M9, was only withdrawn from service in 1955.

Mitsubishi A7M Reppu, CADS Code Name Chit The A7M was designed as a logical follow-on to the A6M using an engine of almost twice the deliverable power. The first prototype was rather disappointing but a cleaned-up development proved to have sparkling performance, combining the A6Ms range and agility with a 400mph top speed and an armament of four 20mm cannon. The aircraft’s one problem was its size that made it unable to operate from smaller and slower carriers; as a result, the A7M was restricted to the Shokaku and Taiho classes. This mean that the A7M, for all its virtues, was outlived by the A6M since the bigger carriers were capable of operating even better aircraft when these became available. The A7M entered service in 1944 and had vanished from the fleet by 1949.

Kawasaki A7K Shinpu, CADS Code Name Chrissy The Kawasaki competitor to the A7M, the A7K was unique in being the only fighter with a liquid-cooled in-line engine (actually a V-16) proposed for Japanese Naval service. It failed its service trials and was not proceeded with.

Mitsubishi A8M Rifuku, CADS Code Name Dana By the time the A7M was entering service, it was becoming obvious that jets were the way of the future. They had, however, two problems for carrier service. The early jets, especially German-technology ones, were fuel-thirsty in the extreme and they powered up slowly. This made carrier launch difficult and gave the aircraft very short endurance once up. Mitsubishi provided an ingenious solution. They redesigned the A7M to have a nosewheel undercarriage (vital to keep the jet exhaust clear of the deck) and installed a 1,047 pound thrust Ne-20 jet engine in the rear fuselage. The idea was that the aircraft would fly on its piston engine, just using the jet as an emergency power boost. This idea proved successful and the A8M entered service in 1947, quickly replacing the A7M.

Mitsubishi A9M Reisan, CADS Code Name Ellie A further development of the A8M concept, the A9M replaced the piston engine in the nose with a turboprop. This offered much better performance at cost of a significant decrease in range. By the time the A9M was ready for service, pure jet fighters were already available and the type was abandoned.

Kyushu A7W3 Shinden, CADS Code Name Fanny This aircraft represents an unusual anomaly in the otherwise-logical Japanese naval designation system. It was a version of the Kyushu J7W land-based fighter and should, therefore, have been the J7W3-A but for some reason this was changed to A7W3. The original J7W1 had a pusher piston engine and a long, fragile undercarriage that barred it from carrier service. The J7W2 was equipped with a 2,000 pound thrust jet engine and had a much shorter, stronger undercarriage. As the Shokaku and Taiho class carriers were modernized with angled decks and catapults, they were deemed capable of operating the J7W2 and a navalized version, the A7W3 entered service in 1951. It proved to be very successful and later versions with much more powerful engines remained the fastest fighters in the Japanese Navy carrier squadrons until the early 1960s. The A7W3, like all members of that family, was difficult and treacherous to fly and was suited only to the most experienced of pilots.

Kawasaki A10K Tenrai, CADS Code Name Gertie Kawasaki took their rejected A7K fighter and redesigned it to mount a 2,000 pound thrust jet engine in the fuselage. By the time redesign had been completed, only the wings remained in common with the A7K. In this form, the A10K1 was accepted for production and entered fleet service in 1951. It was slower than the A7W3, in fact was barely faster than the A8M but it was a pure jet and carried a very heavy gun battery of six 20mm cannon in the wings. The A10K was only used in limited numbers in the fleet but it proved to be a vital training aircraft and was quite extensively produced.

Mitsubishi A11M Shurikan, CADS Code Name Hannah This aircraft was a further development of the A9M although it bore little resemblance to the earlier aircraft. Mitsubishi had come up with a jet engine design that used split intakes and a bifurcated exhaust. This allowed the engine to be mounted in the middle of the aircraft, its intakes in the wing root leading edge and its exhaust in the trailing edge. The rest of the aircraft was stuffed with fuel tanks and thus was the range problem at last overcome. The A10M bore a distinct resemblance to a slimmed-down F9F Panther. It also entered service in 1951 and its docility and range made it a favorite even though its performance was lack-lustre. It remained in service until 1962.

Kyushu A12W Kabuko, CADS Code Name Ivy This aircraft was a twin-engined, twin seat version of the A7W. Contemporary with (and bearing a close resemblance to) the Chance Vought F7U Cutlass, it also shared all the flaws of the “Gutless Cutlass. It was notable as the first Japanese naval fighter to be equipped with radar as standard and was armed with four of the Navy’s new Tanto infra-red homing missiles and four 30mm Type 5 cannon. The Tanto was one of the earliest all-aspect infra-red missiles and carried an unusually large warhead.. It was, however, short ranged and easily decoyed. The A12W had extremely bad flying characteristics that included a habit of stalling without warning. Like its single-engined ancestor, it tended to be restricted to the most experienced aircrew and, like the A7W was usually deployed to carriers in small detachments. The A12W entered service in 1958 but was relatively short-lived and vanished from the fleet by 1963.

Mitsubishi A13M Katana, CADS Code Name Janis By the mid-1950s, the Japanese had cracked the problem of building high-powered jet engines that were relatively fuel-efficient. The Japanese developed the Ne-45, a turbojet that gave 9,900 pounds of thrust. This was installed in an enlarged A11M airframe, retaining the wing-root intakes but exhausting through a single port in the tail. The wings and tail were moderately swept and an armament of four 30mm Type cannon fitted under the nose. The A13M was an instant success being agile, heavily armed although being restricted to transonic speeds (the A13M could exceed the speed of sound in a dive from altitude but suffered from engine surges in that regime). Significantly, it had a service ceiling of approximately 52,500 feet, making it the first Japanese carrier-born fighter capable of intercepting SAC’s bombers. The A13M entered service in 1959 and remained in Japanese fleet fighter squadrons until they were disbanded in 1986. Very large numbers of A13M aircraft (some say more than 2,000) were supplied to The Caliphate.

Mitsubishi A14M Naginata A proposed development of the A13M, the A14M would have had new, thinner wings, a reheated Ne-45 engine. The prototype A14M showed a speed of 820 miles per hour at sea level and 970 miles per hour at altitude. It had a service ceiling of 59,500 feet. However, the strategic defense review of 1959 envisioned the end of the Japanese carrier fleet and development of the A14M was canceled. With its end, Japanese carrier fighter development ceased.

Land-based Fighters
Historical note: Japanese Navy land-based fighters went through several changes of role in their career. Originally, the land-based fighter force was designed to provide long-range escorts to Japanese Navy land-based bombers. In the early 1940s, attention shifted to providing air cover for Japanese naval and air bases, the Japanese Army showing no interest in that role. When the high-altitude bombing threat to Japan materialized in 1947/48, the navy had the only effective interceptors capable of reaching B-36 operational altitudes and, as a result, the Navy became responsible for the strategic air defense of Japan. Following the 1965 Showa Restoration Coup, the Army took over this role and the navy fighter arm reverted to defending Japanese naval installations.

Nakajima J1N Gekko CADS Code Name Avril The J1N1 was originally designed as a long-range day fighter intended for deep penetration raids into enemy territory or for long-distance escort over the sea. The aircraft turned out to be deficient in many respects and was a failure as a fighter. However, a much-simplified version of the design was produced as a reconnaissance aircraft. This was more satisfactory and a small number of the type was built (Japanese designation being J1N1-R). When reported by the Triple Alliance, these were assumed to be fighters and given the appropriate female name. The J1N1 entered service in 1943 and had been withdrawn by 1945.

Mitsubishi J2M Raiden, CADS Code Name Bea The J2M Raiden was a complete break from earlier Japanese fighters in that its design stressed speed, firepower and rate of climb over all other considerations. Intended purely as a point defense interceptor, it first flew in 1941 and entered service in early 1943. Armed with four 20mm type 99 cannon and capable of almost 400 miles per hour, it would have posed a serious threat to the B-29 had that aircraft ever actually been used against Japan. However, its service ceiling of 37,000 feet made it useless against the B-36. The J2M remained in service until mid-1948.

Kawanishi J3K Shinpu, CADS Code Name Candy In 1942, the Kawanishi group designed the J3K as a successor to the J2M as a point defense fighter. The aircraft was technically very successful and, when it entered service in 1944 was the fastest fighter in Japanese Navy service. However, it was quickly supplanted by the even better N1K2-J and only three groups were ever equipped with the J3K. It had vanished from service by 1947.

Kawanishi N1K1-J Shiden, CADS Code Name Diane The most successful of the piston-engined Japanese land-based fighters, the N1K1-J was a wheeled version of the N1K1 floatplane fighter. A truly outstanding fighter, it was fast, very heavily armed, agile and fast-climbing. It entered service in 1944 and remained in service until 1953.

Kawanishi N2K1-J Shiden-kai, CADS Code Name Diane A drastically modified version of the N1K1-J (some sources suggest that this aircraft was designated the N1K2-J) this had its wing lowered from the mid-fuselage position and reputedly had the number of individual components in its construction reduced by 30,000. The first N2K1-Js entered service in 1945 and the type remained in Japanese Navy service until 1954.

Mitsubishi J4M Shinden A pusher-engined fighter with its propeller mounted in the rear of a short fuselage nacelle with its tail mounted on booms. The Shinden prototype was half-built when the program was canceled by the Japanese Navy who felt it offered no advantages over the existing fighters.

Nakajima J5N Oroi An advanced version of the J1N1, this aircraft was also canceled as a result of it offering no real advantages over the N2K1-J

Kawanishi J6K Shinfu, CADS Code Name Candy A version of the J3K with a more powerful engine and 30mm cannon replacing the 20mm weapons. A small number were built as attrition replacements for J3K aircraft lost in accidents.

Kyushu J7W3 Shinden, CADS Code Name Fanny A radical canard design with a rear-mounted wing and forward mounted tailplane. The J7W1 was piston-engined and had a long, fragile undercarriage but the J7W2 had a Ne-130 jet engine and a much shorter, stronger undercarriage. The J7W1 entered service in 1946 and the J7W2 in 1947. They remained in service until 1953, their life as home-defense interceptors being restricted by their inability to reach more than 40,000 feet and thus being incapable of intercepting the B-36.

Mitsubishi J8M Shusui, CADS Code Name Erin Often described as a copy of the Me-163 rocket fighter, the J8M was certainly derived from the German aircraft but was actually a much superior product. The Japanese team examining a sample Me-163B were appalled by the wasted weight and over-complex engineering in the German fighter and redesigned it. The result was a stronger, lighter airframe that was less prone to the Me-163s disastrous fuel leaks and explosions while being easier to fly. The J8M was some 50mph faster than the Me-163, could maintain full power for a minute longer and had a service ceiling of 52,500 feet, 13,000 feet more than the Me-163B. Far from the J8M being a copy of the Me-163, information on the J8M was supplied to Germany and was used to develop the Me-163C. The J8M was the first fighter to be able to reach altitudes where it was a significant threat to the B-36 bomber and it was this capability that resulted in the Japanese Navy being assigned the role of strategic defense of the Japanese homeland. The J8M entered service in 1945 and remained in Naval force structures until 1951.

Mitsubishi J9M Shusui, CADS Code Name Flip A further complete redesign of the technology obtained from the Me-163B, the J9M featured a throttlable rocket engine, much enlarged fuel tanks an entirely new fuselage with a bubble cockpit. The J9M had a maximum speed of 620 miles per hour, a powered endurance of nine minutes and a service ceiling of 52,500 feet. The J9M became the backbone of the Japanese naval land-based fighter force, the first aircraft entering service in 1947 and the type remaining in the inventory until 1959. The J9M was built in Germany as the Me-263 and early production Me-263s plus the available Me-163cs were the only fighters capable of offering any significant resistance to The Big One, shooting down at least two, possibly three, B-36s. J9M aircraft were also exported to the Caliphate.

Nakajima J10N Kikka, CADS Code Name Grace Another aircraft often described as a copy of a German design, the J10N was actually designed on the basis of photographs of the Me-262 but was a much smaller and aerodynamically more efficient aircraft. It discarded the draggy triangular fuselage and inefficient wing profile of the Me-262 in favor of a sleek elliptical fuselage and much thinner wings better suited to high speeds. As a result, despite having less power than the Me-262, it was faster and higher-flying. In addition, its 30mm cannon were much better weapons than the German design. The J10N proved to have better flying characteristics than the me-262. Introduced in 1948, it quickly replaced the piston-engined fighters and, by the mid-1950s, the Japanese Naval land-based fighter fleet had standardized on the J9M and J10N. The J10N remained in service until it was replaced by the J12K from 1960 onwards. However, the last J10Ns were not withdrawn from service until 1966.

Mitsubishi J11M Saro, CADS Code Name Happy By the mid-1950s, the Japanese Navy land-based fighter squadrons were operating two types of aircraft, the J9M that had adequate speed and altitude ability but cripplingly short endurance and the J10N that had the required speed and endurance but lacked the altitude to engage the American bombers. Mitsubishi, therefore, decided to develop an aircraft that effectively combined both types in one airframe. Their original effort was the J11M1 that still used a rocket engine as its main source of power but was equipped with a get-home jet engine. However, it quickly became obvious that a more substantial jet component was needed, the aircraft needed more firepower and a radar system. Thus, a new, significantly larger aircraft, the J11M2 was born. This featured its engines arranged vertically, an Ne-80 in the lower part of the fuselage and a rocket engine in the upper. The aircraft was armed with two Tanto missiles on its wingtips. Trials indicated that the aircraft, when running on both its rocket and jet had spectacular performance. It had a maximum speed of 1,550 miles per hour and a stunning initial climb rate of 60,000 feet per minute to reach a service ceiling of 67,000 feet. This made the B-36 and B-60 instantly obsolete and placed the B-52 at considerable risk. The J11M2 went into production in 1958 and it remained in service until 1986.

Kawasaki J12K Kamiden, CADS Code Name Irene For all its virtues, the J11M2 had the same drawback as other hybrid aircraft (and one foreshadowed by the Ta-152H). Although it had excellent performance while running its boost system (the rocket in the J11M2, GM-1 injection in the Ta-152), that boost was limited and when its fuel ran out, the weight and complexity of the system was such that it severely penalized the aircraft. A J11M2 with its rocket fuel gone was a very slow and pedestrian performer. Kawasaki looked at the idea and came up with a better idea, why not simply replace the rocket with a second jet engine? They proceeded to design the minimum aircraft that could be built around two Ne-80 engines, each delivering 11,100 pounds of thrust. The two engines were arranged vertically in the fuselage. The most distinguishing feature of the aircraft was its sharply-swept wings, essentially a delta with a small triangle cut out of the trailing edge. The J12K1 was armed with two 30mm cannon but the J12K2 version sacrificed these in favor of a pair of Tanto missiles. Mounted on the fuselage sides The J12K3 geatured a prominent bulge in its belly that contained extra fuel and a pair of 30mm cannon while the pair of Tanto missiles were replaced by a pair of the much-improved Tanto-Kai. The major production version was the J12K4 that featured an enlarged belly tank and provision for over-wing drop tanks.

The J12K had a maximum speed of 1,500 miles per hour at 40,000 feet, a rate of climb just under 50,000 feet per minute and a service ceiling of around 65,000 feet. It’s endurance was still very limited, the early K1 and K2 versions being unable to reach maximum speed before they ran out of fuel. It’s radar, mounted in the nose intake cone was very limited in capability, short-ranged, vulnerable to countermeasures and with a very narrow tracking cone. The aircraft’s armament was also too light; it had munitions for barely one pass at its target although, in fairness, that’s all its fuel load allowed. The J12K entered service in 1961. In 1965, as a result of the Showa Restoration Coup, all J12K4 aircraft were taken over by the Japanese Army that seized the strategic defense role from the Navy. The Navy retained its J11M2 interceptors for local defense of Japanese naval bases, but the J12K4 was, henceforth an Army aircraft and no further Navy land based fighters were built. Large numbers of J12Ks were exported to The Caliphate which used them in the fighting around Algeria and in attempts to intercept SAC bombers. Those attempts were futile, although many J12Ks were lost in the effort.

Seaplane Fighters
Historical note: The widespread deployment of seaplane fighters was unique to the Japanese who found them an ideal solution to defending its large number of small island bases. As the carrier and land-based fighter fleets vanished, the seaplane fighters became the last surviving remnant of Japanese naval tactical air power

Nakajima A6M2-N Zero, CADS Code Name Babs A redesigned version of the A6M2, the A6M2-N had its undercarriage removed and faired over, a taller tail and a large central float with two outriggers under the outer wings. The aircraft as approximately 60 mph slower than the standard A6M2 and was not viable as a frontline fighter. A few were deployed at Truk and some of the other Japanese islands but most served as training aircraft for the later N1K1.

Kawanishi N1K Kyofu, CADS Code Name Cassie An advanced floatplane fighter designed for water-borne operations from the start, the N1K1 entered service in early 1943. Although a floatplane, its speed and agility were equal to contemporary models of the A6M. The type saw mass production and detachments of the N1K were deployed to most Japanese island and coastal bases. From 1945 onwards, the type was replaced by the N2K.

Kawanishi N2K Kyofu-Kai, CADS Code Name Cassie Kawanishi’s work in developing an improved land-based fighter was fed back into the floatplane fighter to produce the N2K Kyofu-Kai. This was a significant advance on the N1K, being faster, more agile and much easier to build. It slowly replaced the older aircraft from 1945 onwards and remained in service until 1954.

Kawanishi N3K Kamifu, CADS Code Name Doll With the introduction of jet engines, Kawanishi realized that eliminating the propeller made it possible to design a much more streamlined and efficient seaplane fighter. The company already was experienced in designing low-drag, high-speed float and flying boat hulls and used this experience to produce a flying boat fighter powered by two Ne-30 jet engines. The fuselage of the aircraft was bulky, primarily to provide the volume necessary for the aircraft to float but also to keep the air intake in the nose free of spray during takeoff. Despite its portly appearance, the N3K was a highly successful fighter, capable of 512 mph, an endurance of two and a half hours and a service ceiling of 43,000 feet. This didn’t put it quite in the forefront of fighter development but it made the aircraft a serious threat when deployed to small islands and remote bases. Japanese seaplane carriers were first to receive the N3K in 1952 and the type remained in service until 1959.

Mitsubishi N4M Shokikaze, CADS Code Name Eliza During the late 1940s, Mitsubishi started to develop a new technology for seaplanes, the hydro-ski. They designed a new, delta-wing fighter around this concept, powered by two Ne-15 jet engines. Development was long and hard, the original twin-ski configuration proved to cause excessive vibration on take-off and landings although the aircraft proved to be a delight to fly once airborne. A new layout that used a single ski eventually solved the problems. However, by that time, the aircraft was considered underpowered and its engines were replaced by afterburning Ne-60s. This led to a further round of problems but, finally, the aircraft entered service in 1957. It achieved a maximum speed of 825 miles per hour and had a service ceiling of 54,800 feet, making it solidly comparable with land- and carrier-based fighters of the era. It was armed with two 30mm cannons and two Tanto missiles carried over the wings. It remained in service until 1970.

Mitsubishi N5M Ohtori, CADS Code Name Fuzzy Reputedly the CADS name for this aircraft comes from the poor quality of initial pictures of the type, leading to jokes that the Japanese had “built it fuzzy”. The N5M was an onward development of the N4M, replacing the twin Ne-60 engines with a single Ne-150 that offered more power than the earlier layout yet resulted in less drag. The N5M was faster than the N4M, achieving 1,050 mph and a service ceiling of 58,000 feet. The most important innovation of the new aircraft was a fuselage weapons by that could hold four Tanto-Kai missiles in addition to the two overwing weapons. In addition to sealing the doors against water leakage, Mitusbish arranged the bay so it could be accessed from the top of the fuselage while he fighter was floating in the water. The N5M entered service in 1960 and remained in service until 1986. One N5M has the unique distinction (for a fighter) of being torpedoed by an Australian submarine during the “Guano War”.

Mitsubishi N6M Tsurugi, CADS Code Name Greta The Japanese floatplane fighters not only survived the 1959 Japanese strategic review, they benefited from it. Seaplane carriers were much cheaper to build than aircraft carriers (five Nisshin class carriers could be built for the cost of one Improved Taiho) and the need to garrison small island bases still existed. Accordingly, in 1961, a new seaplane fighter program was started. This essentially took the N5M and returned to the twin-engined layout, using two Ne-150 engines. The fuselage and wings were completely redesigned. Development was slowed by the Showa Restoration Coup, but by 1975, the aircraft was ready for service. The N6M was capable of 1,750 mph at 55,000 feet and could reach an altitude of 75,000 feet. It remains in service at this time, the only fighter currently in Japanese Naval service.

[Calder]

Japanese Naval Bombers
Dive Bombers
Historical note: Dive and torpedo bombers formed the primary striking arm of the Japanese carriers and their highly-trained, highly motivated crews were arguably the most competent in the world during the early 1940s. However, the absence of naval warfare in the Pacific and the demands of the land war in China forced a concentration on supporting troops in China and this was largely the task of the Army. Naval dive bombers were first to feel the pressure on funding that resulted and their separate existence was terminated when they merged with the torpedo bombers to form a generalized ‘attack” category.

Aichi D3A, CADS Reporting Name Alf The D3A entered service in 1940 and quickly became the Japanese Navy’s primary dive bomber. Relatively fast and agile, its great deficiency was its limited bomb load. In the hands of experts whose criteria was not hitting a ship but where they placed a bomb on that ship, this was acceptable but declining aircrew standards as more and more pilots were drawn away into the Army bomber units in China meant these standards could no longer be maintained and the D3A became too lightly armed for service use. The last had vanished from the fleet by 1944.

Yokusuka D4Y Suisei, CADS Reporting Name Dave Designed as a replacement for the D3A, the D4Y was the only carrier aircraft with a liquid-cooled engine to see service in the Japanese Navy. Severe structural problems limited early production D4Y1 aircraft to reconnaissance roles and the type did not enter service in its design role until 1943. However, problems with the engine continued to hamper reliability and production of the D4Y ceased in 1944 once the in-service D3A squadrons had been re-equipped with new type. The D4Y was withdrawn from service in favor of the D5Y by the end of 1945.

Yokusuka D5Y Suisei-kai, CADS Reporting Name Dave Yokusuka replaced the troublesome liquid cooled engine in the D4Y with a radial engine, this causing a loss in speed but a great increase in reliability. The D5Y entered production during late 1944 and continued to serve on smaller carriers through to 1949. The D5Y was the last specialized dive bomber to be produced for the Japanese Navy.

Attack Bombers
Historical note: This category started out as torpedo bombers but underwent several major changes. The first took place in 1946 when the separate dive bomber category was abandoned and that type merged with torpedo bombers to form the new attack category. Over the years, as Japan’s carrier fleet declined, the attack aircraft operated more and more from land bases and their carrier operability declined. In 1966, any pretense of carrier operability was discarded and this group was restructured to cover the medium-range strategic bombers tasked with regional (ie anti-Triple Alliance) operations.

Nakajima B5N, CADS Reporting Name Bob The B5N torpedo bomber entered service in early 1940, at which time it was considered one of the most advanced torpedo bombers in the world. A stable and accurate aircraft that proved to be an accurate and effective torpedo bomber, the B5N remained the backbone of the Japanese strike squadrons until 1944 when it was replaced by the similar B6N

Nakajima B6N Tenzan, CADS Reporting Name Carl The B6N was very similar to the B5N, differing only in that it had approximately 80 percent more engine power. The B6N suffered from having higher landing speeds and distances compared with the older aircraft and these limited its use to the larger carriers. The B6N was also lightly armed and almost unprotected by 1945 standards and its service career was limited, the last having left the fleet by 1948 after little more than three years active service.

Aichi B7A Ryusei, CADS Reporting Name Ernie. The B7A was designed specifically to rectify the greatest weaknesses of the B6N and B5N, their weak armament and lack of strength. The result was a very strong, heavily-armed torpedo bomber. In fact, the aircraft quickly demonstrated its structural virtues to the point where the Japanese navy realized the aircraft could serve as an effective dive bomber. As a result, the type entered production in 1946 to fill the roles occupied by both the B6N and the D5Y. The older aircraft remained briefly in service on carriers too small to handle the big, heavy B7A but by 1950, the B7A had become the standard attack aircraft on the Japanese carriers. It also equipped short-range land-based attack squadrons. The B7A remained in service until the early 1960s.

Aichi B8A Mochusai, CADS Reporting Name Frodo. The B8A was essentially a product-improved derivative of the B7A. The radial engine was replaced by turboprop and the rear gunner was eliminated, reducing the crew to a single person in a fighter-type bubble canopy. Various other weight-saving modifications were carried out, with the result that the aircraft’s payload increased dramatically, from the 2,200 pounds of the B7A to no less than 6,600 pounds. The aircraft became known in Japanese naval circles as the fleet’s heavy hitter, gaining the nickname “Adie-san” as a somewhat warped compliment to the Douglas AD-1 Skyraider. The first B8A aircraft entered service in 1952 and the type remained in service until 1966.

Kawasaki B9K Seiran, CADS Reporting Name George While the B8A was an efficient strike aircraft, the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons forced the issue of its speed. The B8A was simply too slow to deliver such weapons and a much faster aircraft was needed. Kawasaki offered a radically new aircraft to fill this role. They were developing a near-supersonic fighter for the Japanese Army that used a single Ne-45 jet engine. The design team greatly enlarged this aircraft to accommodate two Ne-45s and provide carriage for up to 4,400 pounds of warload in addition to its battery of four 30mm cannon in the nose. This aircraft appeared to be ideally suited to Japanese Navy requirements. However, mid-way through development, the Army fighter on which it was based developed severe technical problems and was withdrawn after less than a year of service. The twin-engined naval aircraft shared so much with the smaller Army plane that its development was delayed while the impending problems were corrected. On delivery, the B9K proved a great disappointment. For all its extra power, the aircraft was barely faster than the A13M. More significantly, its size made its operation from Japan’s aircraft carriers a marginal proposition. Combined with poor flying characteristics, this made the aircraft exceptionally dangerous to operate, “one a day into Ehime Bay” being a phrase commonly heard around Japanese naval bases of the time. It was no great exaggeration; of the 90 initial production B9K1 aircraft, 78 had crashed within a year of delivery. In fact, criticism of the B9K was a little misplaced, it was certainly poorly designed and used its engine power to no great advantage but the real problem was not that it was too big, it was that Japan’s aircraft carriers were too small. Japan was bumping up against the limits of its existing aircraft carrier designs and that was a problem without resolution - except by buying bigger carriers. Many of the initial problems were solved with the B9K2 and subsequent variants but the basic mismatch between existing carrier size and the larger aircraft resulting from modern requirements remained. Despite its problems, the B9K entered fleet service in 1958 and remained until the last Japanese aircraft carrier was decommissioned almost thirty years later.

Nakajima B10N Shuka, CADS Reporting Name Harry The B10N marks the changeover point in the B-classification between carrier-based attack aircraft and land-based theater-range strike. Under the strategic plans developed by Admiral Soriva between 1959 and 1965, a new strike aircraft was to be developed that combined the land-based and carrier-based strike roles. Combining these roles proved to be difficult and the aircraft that emerged was the subject of constant weight reduction exercises. Powered by two Ne-90 engines and carrying a crew of two, the B10N had a radical new solution to the problem of combining land-based and carrier-based operations. The aircraft was designed with variable geometry wings, in the forward position, they maximized lift to reduce take-off demands while swept back in the rear setting they reduced drag in order to allow the aircraft to fly at supersonic speeds. The great mystery about this design was why a carrier-based role was ever considered; the B10N was more than three times the weight of the B9K an aircraft that was already very marginal for Japan’s carriers. Operating the B10N off the existing carriers was obviously impossible. The idea that the carrier role could be disinformation can be quickly dismissed, the B10N was too compromised by the carrier requirement for this to be plausible. The obvious answer must be that a new and larger Japanese carrier was intended, the only problem being that no trace of such a carrier design has ever been found. The carrier-based role for the B10N was abandoned after the Showa Restoration Coup of 1965 and the aircraft entered service as a land-based aircraft only in 1970. It remained in service until withdrawn in 1992.

Nakajima B11N Shuka-kai, CADS Reporting Name Irving With the B10N entering service, the Nakajima team turned their attention to developing its successor. This turned out to be quite simple; with the requirement to operate carriers out of the way, they simply put back all the features that had been deleted from the B10N to save weight. The B11N had much in common with the B10N but had a longer fuselage to accommodate more fuel and payload, a bogie undercarriage in place of the single main wheels and was powered by a pair of the new Ne-75 jet engines. The result was a much more formidable aircraft that offered a truly theater-wide capability. The B11N1 entered service in 1982 and, despite slow production due to Chipan’s economic crisis, had replaced the older B10N by 1992. The B11N remains in service today.

Nakajima B12N Denko, CADS Reporting Name Jessie The B12N is the latest and most capable bomber in Japan’s theater strike forces. A long-range, supersonic, variable geometry aircraft powered by four Ne-75 jet engines, the B12N has been in production since 1988 and examples continue to join the Japanese Air Force. The current force is believed to consist of 96 aircraft, several having been lost in flying accidents.

Land-based Long Range Bombers
Historical note: This category has a confusing history. The aircraft started out as ultra-long range torpedo bombers designed to provide an added striking arm to the Japanese fleet. However, the demands of the China War saw the long-range Navy aircraft being used to strike at land targets that were out of range of the short-range Japanese Army aircraft. This lead to torpedo attack being de-emphasized in later aircraft. In 1944, the G-category was split in two with the P-group being medium-range land-based bombers tasked with attacking operational targets while the G-group reverted to naval strategic aircraft intended for attacks on shipping and naval installations. The long-range bomber group quickly became Japan’s strategic bomber force and remains so to this day. The P-group was merged with the B-category as described above.

Mitsubishi G3M Tatami, CADS Reporting Name Paul The G3M entered service with the Japanese Navy in early 1937. Its design dated from around 1934 and the aircraft bore a significant resemblance to the German Ju-86. It spent most of its career in obscurity bombing targets in China, in which role, its lack of an internal bomb bay proved a serious limitation. The G3M would doubtless be completely forgotten today except for its controversial appearance in the book “Britain Fights On” by General Sir John Hackett. In a much-criticized section of that story, Sir John had a force of G3M torpedo bombers sinking two British battleships that had been sent out to reinforce the garrison at Singapore. As many reviewers pointed out, this section clearly highlighted the general’s lack of understanding of naval warfare since it is quite inconceivable that a Navy as experienced and capable as the Royal Navy would send two capital ships out without air cover or support in the hopes of “deterring’ a much larger force of enemy ships.

Mitsubishi G4M Hamaki, CADS Reporting Name Ralph the limitations of the G3M lead to the accelerated development of its successor, the G4M. This featured an internal bomb bay and massive fuel tankage that gave it a maximum range of almost 4,000 miles. Although it was very heavily armed by the standards of its day, those fuel tanks proved to be a significant liability in service, their vulnerability making the aircraft an easy target once intercepted. The G4M started replacing the G3M in mid-1941 and, at first, the aircraft proved highly successful. However, the acquisition of more modern fighter aircraft by the Chinese Air Force caused a steep increase in casualties, especially when cannon-armed fighters, most notably the P-45 Airacobra, started to appear. As a result, the G4M was redesigned with a new wing and protected fuel tanks. The G4M continued in service until 1949 although by then it was restricted to ocean surveillance missions where fighter opposition was unlikely.

Nakajima G5N Shinzan. Experience with the G4M demonstrated that the performance limits of twin-engined aircraft were being reached and any further extension of capability could only be obtained by going to a four-engined design. In December 1939, the Nakajima company offered such a design, based on an imported DC4E airliner. The design proved over-complex and performance was far below requirements. A single prototype was built for the Japanese Army as the Ki-68 and a small number of production G5N aircraft were built for maritime reconnaissance, more to give the Japanese Navy experience in operating four-engined land-based aircraft than for any real operational need. The G5N had vanished from naval service by 1944.

Mitsubishi G6M Taizan, CADS Reporting Name Sam With the failure of the G5N, the need for a more battle-worthy replacement for the G4M picked up urgency. Mitsubishi designed the G6M to fill this need, This was primarily a further development of the G4M with its 1,500 hp Kasei radials replaced by 2,250 horsepower MK9s, the fuel tanks and crew sections protected by armor and a new, simplified wing and fuselage design. The result offered very little performance improvement over the G4M while range was severely reduced. A small number of G6M aircraft were built but the type quickly vanished from service.

Kawanishi G7K Seiku Another entry in the search to find a replacement for the G4M was the Kawanishi G7K. This took the wings and tail of the highly successful H8K flying boat and mated them to a new land plane fuselage. The resulting aircraft had a maximum speed of over 300 mph and carried the heaviest bombload of any Japanese aircraft to date, 12,800 pounds. The problem was that Kawanishi lacked the capacity to build both the G7K and the H8K in adequate numbers and this faced the Japanese Navy with an either/or situation. The H8K was considered to be the more essential of the two, especially in view of the promise offered by the new G8N and the G7K was abandoned.

Nakajima G8N Renzan CADS Reporting Name Tony Eventually, after much trying, the Japanese Navy found its long-awaited G4M replacement in the form of the Nakajima G8N. Powered by four turbocharged 2,200 horsepower Homare engines, the G8N was armed with twin 20mm cannon in nose, upper, lower and tail turrets and could carry 8,800 pounds of bombs or two torpedoes. The G8N achieved a maximum speed of 370 mph with a service ceiling of 33,500 feet and had a maximum range of 4,000 miles. The aircraft proved easy to fly and was instantly popular with its crew who also appreciated its armor plate protection for the crew positions and fuel tanks. The G8N entered service in June 1945 and immediately started replacing the G4M n the operational squadrons. In 1946, the G8N units started receiving a new weapon, a rocket-powered glider that could carry a standard Japanese naval torpedo. The idea was that the G8N would release this from outside the range of the enemy air defenses, allowing it to glide down to a launch position where it would drop its torpedo. The G8N2 carried two such weapons and trials proved it to be quite successful. The G8N remained in service throughout the 1950s with the last aircraft of the type being withdrawn in 1961. Late production aircraft ceased to have a strike role and were modified to act as anti-submarine patrol aircraft.

Mitsubishi G9M Chikara, CADS Reporting Name Eric During 1943, the Germans supplied the Japanese with sample aircraft and technical data on a number of advanced aircraft programs. It is widely assumed that these were part of an inducement to persuade the Japanese to attack Russia in the east and, hopefully, break the developing deadlock in Western Russia. The Japanese, of course, had no intention of taking on the Russians after the frightful battering Japanese units had taken in 1939 but were pleased to accept the German information anyway. One of the aircraft designs supplied to the Japanese in this manner was the Heinkel He-277. On May 25th 1944, Herman Goering made his famous speech, denying the importance of heavy bombers and vowing that such programs in Germany would receive “not one Mark, not one kilo of aluminum”. That left the He-277 as a Japanese-only program. Adapting the German design to Japanese production wasn’t easy. The He-277 was powered by four Daimler Benz DB-603 liquid cooled engines, engines that had no Japanese equivalent. As a result, it took four years to produce the first G9M prototype, the aircraft flying in late 1947, only a few weeks after The Big One. The G9M carried a maximum bombload of 8,800 pounds, could achieve 350 miles per hour and had a maximum range of 4,500 miles. Most importantly, it had a maximum ceiling of 49,200 feet, offering a possibility that the Japanese Navy could evade enemy defenses by flying over them, just as the Americans had flown over German defenses in their B-36s. The G9M remained a highly complex and unreliable aircraft and its production run was limited as a result. Its main contributions were that it was one of the threats driving the development of the NORAD American air defense system and it taught the Japanese aircraft industry a lot about high-flying aircraft. The G9M was withdrawn from service from 1954 onwards as the G10N arrived to replace it.

Nakajima G10N Fugaku, CADS Reporting Name Frank Flushed with the success of the G8N, Nakajima were already investigating the possibility of a successor when the data from the procurement of the Heinkel He-274 and He-277 was secured. They grasped the importance immediately; this information offered the possibility of building a truly trans-Pacific bomber. The original design was essentially a pressurized version of the G8N, powered by four Nakajima Ha-505 engines rated at 4,100 horsepower each. It quickly became apparent that this approach was far too conservative and much more could be achieved. Accordingly, a new aircraft was designed, using six of the same engines combined with a beautifully-streamlined airframe. In this, the Japanese had some advantages over the Convair team that had produced the B-36. They were running six years later than the Americans and could exploit the advances in technology that had taken place since 1940 and, after The Big One, they had the example of the B-36 and could build on that. The results were obvious when the G10N were flown. The new bomber cruised at 49,200 feet and could achieve a range of 12,000 miles carrying an 11,000 pound bombload. Its maximum load was 44,000 pounds. Most significantly, the G10N had a maximum speed of 484 miles per hour at 32,000 feet and was about 20mph faster than the B-36 at 49,000. The remarkable thing was that this performance was achieved without the need for jet boost.

The first prototype G10N flew in 1948 amid conditions of stringent security comparable with those surrounding the construction of the Yamato class battleships. Despite this (and perhaps an early mark of the slow decline within Japan), US intelligence started picking up rumors of the development of the big bomber. Nothing concrete was available but it was apparent that the Japanese were building a very large trans-Pacific bomber. Testing this large and complex program took time but was eventually completed and the G10N entered service in 1951. A year later, Japan initiated its first nuclear weapon. NORAD’s nightmare had become reality; another nation now had the capability to follow America’s example and fly over any existing defense and drop its bombs on enemy cities. Only, now the “enemy cities” were American. Despite four years of development since the first Red Sun exercise in 1948, the United States still had no effective means of stopping a nuclear attack. Land values in California went into free-fall.

The most immediate effect of the arrival of the nuclear-armed G10N was an eruption in American politics. An obscure Senator, Joe McCarthy, started a series of hearings into who had allowed Japan “to steal the bomb” and “allowed a bomber gap to develop”. Although the G10N had a performance edge over the B-36, the dozen or so G10Ns available in January 1953 could hardly be compared with American fleet of more than two thousand B-36s. McCarthy’s hearings were more noted for their bile than their accuracy and were widely condemned. In later years it was realized that the harm they had done was greatly overstated but they still remain an embarrassing note in American history.

The window of vulnerability closed during 1954 as the F94C Starfire and F86D Sabredog arrived and started to equip interceptor squadrons along the West Coast while Ajax missile batteries started to appear around American cities. The Japanese responded by deploying the G10N3, a version of the G10N that could fire Ohka long-range stand-off missiles. By 1955, an attack pattern had been set where Ohkas fired from submarines were assigned targets in the first tier of states along the Pacific coast while Ohkas fired from G10Ns, longer ranged due to the altitude and speed of their launch, attacked the next tier of states inland. The G10N remained in service until 1959 when the remaining members of the fleet were converted into G11Ns.

Nakajima G11N Fugaku-kai, CADS Reporting Name Frank This aircraft was a simple modification of the original G10N, replacing the 4,100 hp radial engines with 6,600 ehp NT-30 turboprops. The glazed nose was replaced by a solid nose containing a bomb-navigation radar. Primary armament was one of the ever-faster, ever longer-ranged Ohka piloted long-range cruise missiles. Approximately 200 G11Ns were built and all the earlier G10Ns were converted to the new standard. The G11N entered service in 1958 and remained until 1978.

Nakajima G12N Kirigamine, CADS Reporting Name Geoff The G12N was a major redesign of the basic G11N concept. The six NT-30 turboprops were replaced by four NT-70 turboprops rated at 13,300 ehp each. These were placed unusually outboard, allowing space under the inner wing panels for an Ohka missile, enabling each G12N to carry two missiles with the possibility of lifting a third under the belly for shorter-range missions. The wing roots were thickened to include a tunnel that would allow the pilots to climb through the wing and down the thick wing pylon in order to man their Ohkas. The G12N had its wings and tail moderately swept and the aircraft was capable of 550mph with a service ceiling of 52,500 feet. The G12N entered service in 1971 and the last examples were withdrawn in 1995.

Nakajima G13N Kirigamine-kai, CADS Reporting Name Geoff Superficially identical to the G12N, the G13N can be distinguished by its reprofiled cockpit and a two-meter extension to the fuselage ahead of the wing. In reality, it is quite a different aircraft from the G12N. It entered production in 1985 and remains in service today.

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Japanese Naval Bombers and Missiles
Medium Attack Bombers
Historical note: Japan came late to the concept of the fast medium bomber and only introduced the type during the mid-1940s. The type was originally assigned to bombing coastal naval bases and installations plus medium-range shipping attack using bombs and torpedoes. Over the years, as Japan’s carrier fleet declined, the land-based medium attack bombers gradually replaced the carriers as the Japanese Navy’s primary striking arm and the type slowly merged with the short-ranged single-engined attack aircraft. In 1966, the medium-range attack category was finally abolished and the aircraft were merged with the theoretically carrier-based short range attack aircraft to form a class structured to provide medium-range (theater) strategic bombers tasked with regional (ie anti-Triple Alliance) operations. The classic medium bomber concept carried on as an Army responsibility.

Yokosuka P1Y Ginga, CADS Reporting Name Keith Design of the P1Y Ginga was started in 1940 in response to a specification demanding a fast medium bomber capable of undertaking low- and medium altitude attacks as well as dive and torpedo bombing. The first prototype flew in August 1943 but the aircraft proved extremely unreliable and correcting its many deficiencies took until early 1945. Eventually, its bugs ironed out, the P1Y proved to be a valuable and successful aircraft and it remained in service until 1955.

Mitsubishi P2M Hiryu, CADS Reporting Name Ike. The delays to the P1Y lead the Navy to investigate the possibility of acquiring the Army’s Ki-67 Hiryu as a gap-filler. Mitsubishi produced a version of the Ki-67 for Navy use, differing mainly in having provision for a torpedo. The P2M entered service in 1944 and served alongside the P1Y until 1953.

Mitsubishi P3M Yasukuni, CADS Reporting Name Dick The Germans designed the Heinkel 274 as a high-altitude bomber version of the He-177 but the type fell foul of Goering’s decision to terminate all heavy bomber production and the German prototypes were never flown. The machine tooling and blueprints plus a large quantity of components were supplied to Japan. Mitsubishi took the design over and flew the first prototype in 1945. It proved to be an extremely complex and demanding aircraft although its service ceiling of 47,000 feet made it attractive for the reconnaissance role. Only a limited number of P3M aircraft were built and the type’s unreliability gave it a short service life. It entered service in 1948 and had been withdrawn by 1951.

Yokosuka P4Y Byakko, CADS Reporting Name Leon The P1Y1 was a very well-designed aircraft that was cursed with unreliable powerplants. The obvious solution was to re-engine the aircraft; Yokosuka took this opportunity to produce the Japanese Navy’s first jet-engined bomber. The two piston engines were replaced with a pair of Ne-130 engines, each generating 2,002 pounds of thrust. The conversion proved to be highly successful, the sleek airframe of the P1Y taking full advantage of the limited power of the jets and boosting maximum speed to over 400mph. Range, of course, fell dramatically but the sacrifice was considered worthwhile. The prototype P4Y first flew in 1946 and the type entered service in late 1947. Even that rate of development meant that the aircraft was partly outdated by that time and the type was quickly relegated to training duties when the more advanced P5Y entered service.

Yokosuka P5Y Kyokko, CADS Reporting Name Mike The P4Y was a good first step but it became obvious something better was required. It was underpowered and its tailwheel undercarriage was unsuited to jet operations. Accordingly, a thorough redesign was carried out. The single underwing Ne-130s were replaced by a paired installation, doubling the available thrust. The wings were redesigned to accommodate two large wingtip tanks. Most importantly, the fuselage was enlarged and the center of gravity shifted so that the aircraft could be equipped with a nosewheel undercarriage. The P5Y first flew in late 1948 and entered service by the end of 1949. Despite its very short range and limited payload, it remained in Japanese Navy service until 1955.

Yokosuka P6Y Gyoku, CADS Reporting Name Nate The P6Y was, perhaps the definitive development of the line of development that had started with the P1Y. The P5Ys four Ne-130 engines were obsolescent, fuel-thirsty and underpowered. By 1950, Ne-50 engines developing 4,400 pounds of thrust were available. Thus one Ne-50 developed more thrust than two Ne-130s while burning less fuel. Two Ne-50 engines therefore replaced the four Ne-130s of the P5Y and were mounted on a new, thin-profile wing. The result was a great improvement over the P5Y. Maximum range went up to 1,750 miles while maximum speed was increased to 560 miles per hour. Payload was doubled to 4,400 pounds of bombs. The P6Y first flew in 1951 and it entered squadron service in 1953. It first replaced the old P2M bombers, then the P1Y and P5Y. By 1957, the P6Y had become the Chipanese Navy’s standard medium range bomber. It remained in Chipanese service until 1975. It was exported to The Caliphate from 1956 onwards and Caliphate P6Ys remained in service until the mid-1990s.

Yokosuka P7Y Geico, CADS Reporting Name Orace With the P6Y, Yokusuka had established themselves as the pre-eminent medium bomber designers in Japan. As P6Y production ramped up, the group started work on a successor intended as an insurance policy against that position being lost. Although their next design had a clear family resemblance to the P6Y, it was an entirely new aircraft. It had a crew of three, a pilot and navigator sitting under a fighter-style bubble cockpit jest ahead of the steeply-swept wings and a bombardier in the long glazed nose. The P7Y was unequivocally designed to deliver tactical nuclear weapons; although it had a theoretical bombload of 4,400 pounds, this was never regarded as anything more than a reserve option. The P7Y was a further great improvement in performance. The aircraft had a maximum speed of 702 miles per hour and could reach a service ceiling of 59,500 feet. It entered service in 1958 and remained in use until the early 1980s.

Yokosuka P8Y Denko, CADS Reporting Name Quill The P8Y was a refined and upgraded derivative of the P7Y. Bombload was increased to 6,600 pounds and a new radar bombing-navigation system was installed. Maximum speed was increased to 1,250 miles per hour, making the P8Y the fastest bomber in Chipanese service at the time. Service ceiling was 53,200 feet. The P8Y entered service in 1963 but its career in Chipanese naval aviation was very short. When the Showa Restoration Coup took place in 1965, the Japanese Army took over all medium bomber forces. As a result, in 1966, the existing Navy medium bombers were absorbed into the B-category as medium-range strategic aircraft. The P8Y was, however, not part of this reorganization. All P8Y aircraft were taken over by the Army and used to re-equip Japanese Army medium bomber groups, many of which were still flying Ki-127 aircraft. The P8Y was the last Japanese Navy medium bomber produced.

Flying Boats
Historical note: Japanese possession of large numbers of small Pacific islands meant that its development of a powerful flying boat fleet was almost inevitable. Initially, these aircraft served as maritime surveillance and bomber assets but their role quickly expanded to include transport. By the mid-1950s, the Japanese realized that the United States had no intention of fighting their way across the Pacific, taking each island garrison in turn. Instead, they would simply find those garrisons and drop atomic bombs on them. The only defense against that form of attack was not to be there when the bombs went off. The Chipanese forces thus evolved the concept of what they called “Flying Garrisons”. These constituted a group of flying boats carrying an infantry defense group and coastal defense missiles along with a unit of seaplane fighters for air cover and additional cargo-carrying flying boats loaded with fuel and supplies. These could move to any unoccupied atoll and set up a reasonably solid defense within a few hours. More importantly, they could evacuate that atoll base even more quickly. Thus, they could fight a mobile war, moving from base to base as operational necessity demanded, if necessary, ones far in the enemy rear. This concept was, of course, never tested against American forces but “Flying Garrisons” were used in the Guano War to some marked effect.

Yokosuka H5Y A medium-sized twin engined flying boat, this aircraft was underpowered and its production was limited to 20. It spent all its years of service in obscure training duties and never saw operational service.

Kawanishi H6K, CADS Reporting Name Fresco A very large, four-engined flying boat, the H6K marked a new advance in flying boat design. It entered service in mid-1938 and its fabulous endurance made it immediately successful as a maritime patrol aircraft. The H6K was occasionally used as a bomber during the early days of the China Campaign but its lack of protection and huge fuel tanks made it too vulnerable for this to be continued. After being replaced in front-line service by the H8K, the remaining H6Ks were converted to transports (under the designation H6K5-L) and played a valuable role in developing the “Flying Garrison” concept. The H6K5-L transports soldiered on, many as civilian aircraft, until 1957. A historical oddity is that the original Reporting Name of this aircraft was Frisco after a B-movie cowboy hero. However, the city council of San Francisco objected vociferously to having their city name “associated with militarism” and the aircraft was renamed Fresco. For some reason the habit stuck and all Japanese flying boats were given codenames starting with F.

Yokosuka H7Y In the pursuit of more range and endurance, Yokosuka took their abortive H5Y and enlarged it to four engines. They also adopted the Junkers Jumo diesel engine as the primary power plant, ending up with an aircraft with a range of over 6,000 miles and an endurance of 40 hours. Despite this performance, the Japanese navy were reluctant to adopt diesel engines for aircraft propulsion and only a single prototype H7Y was built.

Kawanishi H8K Seiku, CADS Reporting Name Farmer Perhaps the definitive Japanese flying boat the H8K first flew in December 1940. It corrected all the deficiencies of the H6K, being heavily armed with 20mm cannon in power-operated turrets, could carry 4,400 pounds of bombs and was also well-armored. It was capable of almost 300mph and had a range of over 4,500 miles with an endurance of 24 hours. Despite some early teething troubles, the aircraft entered service in January 1942, starting a career that was to last for more than twenty years. Even after its retirement form military service in 1963, the H8K, in its H8K6-L transport form, was to continue in service as a civilian passenger transport in Chipan’s Pacific Island territories and the type can still be seen today in this role.

Aichi H9A Intended to act as a training aircraft for the large H6K and H8K flying boats, the H9A was built in very limited numbers and its operational career was spent entirely within Japanese coastal waters.

Hiro H10H Another attempt to build a medium-sized flying boat, the twin-engined Hiro H10H1 was quite successful having relatively good performance and could tolerate operations of rough seas. However, an analysis of costs showed that it was only marginally less costly than the bigger and much more useful four-engined flying boats. However, the H10H was of significance in that the production run of five aircraft was used to develop Japanese operational doctrine for the use of flying boats in an anti-submarine role.

Kawanishi H11K Seiku, CADS Reporting Name Fargo. The success of the H6K and H8K flying boats in the transport role lead Kawanishi and the Japanese Navy to develop a new flying boat optimized for transport duties. Taking the H8K as a base, the aircraft was re-engined with four Nakajima Ha-54 engines developing 3,800 horsepower, more than twice the output of the earlier engines. The wings were enlarged by approximately 30 percent and mated to a modified fuselage. This was wider and flatter than that of the H8K and had a single vehicle deck rather than two passenger decks as on the H8K. However, its added size increased the usable cargo space by about 20 percent. In order to keep the wing high enough above the water, it was mounted across the top of the fuselage, being covered by a fairing that gave the H11K its popular nickname of “Hunchback”. The greatest change though was in the nose. This consisted of a pair of clamshell doors with an integral loading ramp that could be extended and retracted to land the aircraft’s cargo. The H11K1 first flew in 1947 and the type entered service in 1949. It was an immediate worldwide success with aircraft of the type being exported to South America and South Africa. A civilian version entered production in 1955 and was also a commercial success. The civilian H11Ks were even sold to Europe, the best known operator of the type being Sir Freddy Laker’s Airferry Line. Previously, British civilians wanting to take their cars to Europe had to drive to a port, load their cars on a car ferry and then drive from the French ports to their destination. Using the Airferry H11Ks, they simply loaded their cars only the flying boat in London Docklands or Southampton and could fly direct to Rome, Sweden or to the burgeoning tourist resorts along Russia’s Black Sea coast. This proved so popular that Sir Freddy Laker became a millionaire on the profits. The H11Ks remained in military service until 1971 when they were replaced by the later H13K. Civilian H11Ks remained a common sight around the world well into the 1980s and are still used in less well-travelled areas today.

Kawanishi H12K Seiku-kai, CADS Reporting Name Forrester The successful design of the H11K lead Kawanishi to suggest similar modifications to the H8K to produce a general-service complement to the transport-optimized H11K. The engine change was more drastic than planned; the radial engines on the H8K were replaced by NT-30 turboprops rated at 6,650 ehp. The fuselage was made shallower and lengthened with the wing being mounted in a fuselage-top “hump” as on the H11K. For all these changes, the aircraft was still recognizably derived from the H8K. It was, however, almost 100mph faster and carried twice the bombload of the earlier aircraft while retaining its long range and endurance. The H12K first flew in 1958 and entered service in 1961, replacing the H8Ks. They participated in the “Guano War” with Australia, leading to some surrealistic “dogfights” between Chipanese and Australian flying boats. H12K aircraft are still in service with the Japanese Air Force and the type remains in limited production.

Kawanishi H13K Seiku-kai, CADS Reporting Name Flogger. Just as results from the development of the H11K had been used to produce the H12K, so advances resulting from the design of the general-purpose H12K were fed into the transport flying boat H13K. This had a further redesigned and enlarged wing mounting NT-30/6 turboprops developing 7,100 ehp. Experience with the H11K had suggested the aircraft “bulked out” before it ‘weighted out” - in short it could not lift its full capacity in weight terms because the fuselage lacked volume. Accordingly the fuselage was lengthened by ten meters and widened slightly. The Japanese by now well aware of the potential for civilian sales of this aircraft introduced the civilian aircraft at the same time as the military version and were rewarded by an immediate order from Laker’s Airferry Line to replace their H11Ks. The prototype H13K flew in 1968 and the type entered service with both the Japanese Navy and Laker Airferry in 1971. Military production ceased in 1988 but civilian production continues with the type being continuously refined and developed with more powerful engines and greater cargo capacity.

Manned Cruise Missiles
Historical note: Japan started developing piloted cruise missiles in 1944 in response to a requirement for a very long-range anti-shipping weapon that could be fired from cruisers. Some early experiments were made with a Japanese development of the German Fi-103 cruise missile. Interestingly, American cruisers were equipped with a similar weapon, the Chelomey Kh-10 around this time, the big difference being that the Americans and Russians used radio control for these weapons, the Japanese decided that this was not accurate enough and made provision for a pilot. The Japanese were not impressed by the Fi-103 (which was an inferior design to the superficially similar Kh-10) and decided they could do better. The result was the Ohka series of piloted cruise missiles. Development was on a very low key until the early 1950s when it was dramatically accelerated to provide a delivery system for Japan’s atomic weapons. Originally “Ohka” was the name for the first missile in this series but it quickly became a generic name for all Chipanese strategic piloted cruise missiles. Also, perhaps reflecting some strange aspect of nation psychology, the Japanese never used remote control or automatic guidance systems for their strategic missiles even though they developed these for their long-range tactical anti-ship missiles. They preferred to have their strategic nuclear weapons flown by a pilot - and even today this is still the case. The MXY-7 to MXY-10 flew direct to their targets allowing for maneuvers to avoid defenses on their way in. The MXY-11 onwards climbed to high altitude after launch and flew in at altitudes of around 100,000 feet before diving on their targets. Note that there are some sub-variants to each series; for example, the Ohka-51 was designed for launch from the G10N while the Ohka-52 was launched from the G11N.

Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka-10. Introduced 1948, powered by three rocket engines, range 25 miles, speed 403 mph. Warhead 2,600 pounds explosive. Launched from aircraft

Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka-20. Introduced 1949, powered by Ne-20 jet engine, range 80 miles, speed 290 mph, warhead 1,350 pounds explosive. Launched from aircraft

Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka-30.Introduced 1950, powered by Ne-130 jet engine, range 175 miles, speed 345 mph, warhead 1,750 pounds explosive. Fired from catapult on submarines.

Yokosuka MXY-8 Ohka-40. Introduced 1955, powered by Ne-80 jet engine, range 350 miles, speed 550mph, nuclear warhead. Launched from G10N bomber.

Yokosuka MXY-8 Ohka-50. Introduced 1955, powered by Ne-80 jet engine, range 200 miles, speed 550 mph, nuclear warhead. Launched from I-401 class SSGs and later designs.

Yokosuka MXY-9 Ohka-60. Introduced 1960, powered by two Ne-80 jet engines, range 300 miles, speed 850 mph, thermonuclear warhead, launched from Japanese navy strategic bombers.

Yokosuka MXY-9 Ohka-70. Introduced 1960, powered by two Ne-80 jet engines, range 200 miles, speed 850 mph, thermonuclear warhead, launched from Japanese Navy SSGs.

Yokosuka MXY-10 Ohka-80. Introduced 1972, powered by two Ne-90 jet engines, range 600 miles, speed 1,350 mph, thermonuclear warhead, launched from Japanese Navy strategic bombers.

Yokosuka MXY-10 Ohka-90. Introduced 1972, powered by two Ne-90 jet engines, range 400 miles, speed 1,350 mph, thermonuclear warhead, launched from Japanese Navy SSGs

Yokosuka MXY-11 Ohka-100. Introduced 1976, powered by two Ne-90 jet engines, range 900 miles, speed 1,550 mph (2,250 in terminal dive), thermonuclear warhead, launched from Japanese Navy strategic bombers.

Yokosuka MXY-11 Ohka-110. Introduced 1976, powered by two Ne-90 jet engines, range 500 miles, speed 1,550 mph (2,250 in terminal dive), thermonuclear warhead, launched from Japanese Navy SSGs and SSGNs

Yokosuka MXY-12 Ohka-120. Introduced 1985, powered by two Ne-95 jet engines, range 1,500 miles, speed 1,850 mph (2,350 in terminal dive), thermonuclear warhead, launched from Japanese Navy strategic bombers.

Yokosuka MXY-11 Ohka-130. Introduced 1985, powered by two Ne-95 jet engines, range 1,250 miles, speed 1,850 mph (2,350 in terminal dive), thermonuclear warhead, launched from Japanese Navy SSGNs

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CADS Naming System for Japanese Planes
Fighters
Army
Anne - Ki-27. Nakajima Type 97 fighter
Belle - Ki-43 Nakajima Type 1 fighter Hayabusa
Claire - Ki-44 Nakajima Type 2 fighter Shoki.
Dell - Ki-45 Kawasaki twin-engined fighter Type 1
Emma - Ki-61 Kawasaki Type 3 fighter Hien
Inga - Ki-83 Mitsubishi Type 6 twin-engined fighter
Gail - Ki-84 Nakajima Type 4 fighter Hayate
Helle - Ki-87 Nakajima Type 6 high altitude fighter Tengu
Fran - Ki-94 Tachikawa Type 6 high altitude fighter
June - Ki-96 Kawasaki Type 6 heavy fighter
Kate - Ki-100 Kawasaki Type 4 single-engined fighter
Lily - Ki-102 Kawasaki Type 4 heavy fighter
Maggie - Ki-106 Tachikawa Type 7 fighter
Nell - Ki-109 Mitsubishi Type 6 high altitude heavy fighter
Olive - Ki-113 Nakajima Type 8 fighter
Penny - Ki-116 Nakajima Type 9 fighter
Queen - Ki-120 Nakajima Type 6 twin-engined fighter Kairyu
Kendra - Ki-121 Nakajima Type 7 twin engined fighter
Rae - Ki-122 Mitsubishi Type 7 Shusui rocket-engined fighter
Layla Ki-126 Tachikawa Type 8 single engined fighter
Sally - Ki-130 Kawasaki Type 13 twin-engined fighter

Naval (Carrier)
Amy (later Alice) - Mitsubishi A5M
Jane - Mitsubishi A6M Zero
Chit - Mitsubishi A7M Reppu
Chrissy - Kawasaki A7K Shinpu
Dana - Mitsubishi A8M Rifuku
Ellie - Mitsubishi A9M Reisan
Fanny - Kyushu A7W3 Shinden
Gertie - Kawasaki A10K Tenrai
Hannah - Mitsubishi A11M Shurikan
Ivy - Kyushu A12W Kabuko
Janis - Mitsubishi A13M Katana

Naval (Land Based)
Avril - Nakajima J1N Gekko
Bea - Mitsubishi J2M Raiden
Candy - Kawanishi J3K Shinpu
Diane - Kawanishi N1K1-J Shiden
Diane - Kawanishi N2K1-J Shiden-kai
Candy - Kawanishi J6K Shinfu
Fanny - Kyushu J7W3 Shinden
Erin - Mitsubishi J8M Shusui
Flip - Mitsubishi J9M Shusui
Grace - Nakajima J10N Kikka
Happy - Mitsubishi J11M Saro
Irene - Kawasaki J12K Kamiden

Naval (Seaplane)
Babs - Nakajima A6M2-N Zero
Cassie - Kawanishi N1K Kyofu
Cassie - Kawanishi N2K Kyofu-Kai
Doll - Kawanishi N3K Kamifu
Eliza - Mitsubishi N4M Shokikaze
Fuzzy - Mitsubishi N5M Ohtori
Greta - Mitsubishi N6M Tsurugi

Bombers
Army Heavy/Medium
Dan - Ki-21 Mitsubishi Type 97 medium bomber
Fred - Ki-48 Kawasaki Type 99 twin-engined medium bomber
Greg - Ki-49 Nakajima Type 100 twin-engined medium bomber Donryu
Ike - Ki-67 Mitsubishi Type 4 twin-engined medium bomber Hiryu
Jack - Ki-68 Nakajima Type 6 four-engined heavy bomber Shinzan
Larry - Ki-74 Tachikawa Type 5 medium bomber
Moe - Ki-91 Kawasaki Type 7 heavy bomber
Pete - Ki-101 Mitsubishi Type 8 medium bomber
Quint - Ki-112 Mitsubishi Type 10 medium bomber
Steve - Ki-123 Mitsubishi Type 8 medium bomber
Uncle - Ki-127 Mitsubishi Type 11 medium bomber

Army Light/Reconnaissance/Special
Art - Ki-30 Mitsubishi Type 97 light bomber
Bert - Ki-32 Kawasaki Type 98 light bomber
Harv - Ki-51 Mitsubishi Type 99 light bomber
Ken - Ki-71 Mansu Type 5 light bomber
Nick - Ki-93 Rikugun Type 6 light bomber
Oscar - Ki-98 Mansyu Type 7 ground attack bomber
Slime - Ki-115 Nakajima Type 5 special attacker
Randy - Ki-119 Kawasaki Type 6 attack bomber
Will - Ki-131 Mitsubishi Type 17 light attack aircraft
Curly - Ki-36 Tachikawa Type 98 army co-operation aircraft
Ed - Ki-46 Mitsubishi Type 100 reconnaissance aircraft
Tim - Ki-124 Mitsubishi Type 9 command reconnaissance aircraft
Vick - Ki-128 Mitsubishi Type 12 command reconnaissance aircraft

Naval Dive (Carrier)
Alf - Aichi D3A
Dave - Yokusuka D4Y Suisei
Dave - Yokusuka D5Y Suisei-kai

Naval Torpedo/Attack (Carrier)
Bob - Nakajima B5N
Carl - Nakajima B6N Tenzan
Ernie - Aichi B7A Ryusei
Frodo - Aichi B8A Mochusai
George - Kawasaki B9K Seiran
Naval Attack (Land Based)
Harry - Nakajima B10N Shuka
Irving - Nakajima B11N Shuka-kai
Jessie - Nakajima B12N Denko

Naval Medium/Attack (Land Based)
Keith - Yokosuka P1Y Ginga
Ike - Mitsubishi P2M Hiryu
Dick - Mitsubishi P3M Yasukuni
Leon - Yokosuka P4Y Byakko
Mike - Yokosuka P5Y Kyokko
Nate - Yokosuka P6Y Gyoku
Orace - Yokosuka P7Y Geico
Quill - Yokosuka P8Y Denko

Naval Long Range (Land Based)
Paul - Mitsubishi G3M Tatami
Ralph - Mitsubishi G4M Hamaki
Sam - Mitsubishi G6M Taizan
Tony - Nakajima G8N Renzan
Eric - Mitsubishi G9M Chikara
Frank - Nakajima G10N Fugaku
Frank - Nakajima G11N Fugaku-kai
Geoff - Nakajima G12N Kirigamine
Geoff - Nakajima G13N Kirigamine-kai

Naval Flying Boats
Fresco - Kawanishi H6K
Farmer - Kawanishi H8K Seiku
Fargo - Kawanishi H11K Seiku
Forrester - Kawanishi H12K Seiku-kai
Flogger - Kawanishi H13K Seiku-kai