AVIATION In an even sadder situation was the satisfaction of the needs of the Russian army in aviation. There was no production of aircraft engines in peacetime in Russia, except for the branch of the Gnoma plant in Moscow, which produced no more than 5 engines of this kind

Organized on the whole according to the European model, nevertheless, it had unique features. Since the army and navy of Japan had their own aviation, the Air Force as a separate branch of the armed forces, like the German Luftwaffe or the Royal Air Force of Great Britain, did not exist in Japan.

This was manifested both in the differences in the material part (aircraft of different types were in service with the aviation of the army and navy), and in the principles of organization and combat use. In general, according to the recognition of both foreign observers and the Japanese themselves, the "naval" aviation units were distinguished by a higher level of pilot training and organization than their "land" counterparts.

Aviation of the Imperial Army consisted of five Air Armies (Kokugun). Each army controlled a certain region of Asia. For example, in the spring of 1944, the 2nd Air Force, headquartered in Hsinkin, defended Manchuria, while the 4th Air Force, headquartered in Manila, defended the Philippines, Indonesia, and western New Guinea. The task of the Air Armies was to support the ground forces and deliver cargo, weapons and soldiers where needed, coordinating their actions with ground headquarters.

Air divisions (Hikosidan) - the largest tactical units - reported directly to the headquarters of the Air Armies. In turn, the headquarters of the air divisions exercised command and control of smaller units.

The air brigades (Hikodan) were lower level tactical formations. Usually, one division included two or three brigades. Hikodans were mobile combat formations with a small headquarters, operating at the tactical level. Each brigade usually consisted of three or four Hikosentai (fighter regiment or air group).

Hikosentai, or simply Sentai, was the main combat unit of the Japanese army aviation. Each sentai consisted of three or more chutais (squadrons). Depending on the composition, there were from 27 to 49 aircraft in the sentai. Each Chutai had about 16 aircraft and a corresponding number of pilots and technicians. Thus, the personnel of sentai numbered about 400 soldiers and officers.

A flight (Shotai) usually consisted of three aircraft and was the smallest unit in Japanese aviation. At the end of the war, as an experiment, the number of shotai was increased to four aircraft. But the experiment failed - the fourth pilot invariably turned out to be superfluous, fell out of action and became easy prey for the enemy.

Aviation of the Japanese Imperial Navy

The main organizational and staffing unit of Japan's naval aviation was the air group - kokutai (in army aviation - sentai). As part of naval aviation, there were about 90 air groups, 36-64 aircraft each.

The air groups had numbers or their own names. The names were given, as a rule, according to the base airfield or air command (air groups Iokosuka, Sasebo, etc.). With rare exceptions (Tainan air group), when the air group was transferred to overseas territories, the name was replaced by a number (Kanoya air group, for example, became the 253rd air group). Numbers between 200 and 399 were reserved for fighter air groups, between 600 and 699 for combined air groups. Hydroaviation air groups had numbers between 400 and 499. Deck air groups bore the names of aircraft carriers (Akagi air group, Akagi fighter squadron).

Each air group had three or four squadrons (hikotai), 12-16 aircraft each. A squadron could be commanded by a lieutenant or even an experienced senior non-commissioned officer.

Most of the pilots were sergeants, while in the Allied Air Force almost all pilots were officers. In communication with each other, the sergeants-pilots gave subordination to oblivion, but an abyss lay between the sergeants and officers.

The lowest unit of Japanese aviation was a link of three or four aircraft. For a long time, the Japanese flew in threes. In 1943, Lieutenant Zeinjiro Miyano was the first to copy the Western tactics of fighting in pairs. As a rule, experienced veterans were appointed as leading pairs in a link of four aircraft, and newcomers were appointed as wingmen. This distribution of seats in the link allowed young pilots to gradually gain combat experience and reduce losses. By 1944, Japanese fighters practically stopped flying in threes. A link of three aircraft quickly fell apart in an air battle (it was difficult for the pilots to keep the formation), after which the enemy could shoot down the fighters one by one.

Camouflage and identification designations of Japanese aircraft

Since the beginning of the war in the Pacific, most combat aircraft of army aviation were either not painted at all (they had the color of natural duralumin), or were painted with light gray, almost white, paint. However, already during the war in China, some types of aircraft, for example, the Mitsubishi Ki 21 and Kawasaki Ki 32 bombers, received the first samples of camouflage: on top, the aircraft was painted in uneven stripes of olive green and brown with a narrow white or blue dividing line between them, and on the bottom light gray paint.

With the entry of Japan into the Second World War, the urgency of using camouflage was such that at first it was taken up by the service personnel of aviation units. Most often, the aircraft was covered with spots or stripes of olive green paint at a distance, they merged, providing satisfactory concealment of the aircraft against the background of the underlying surface. Then camouflage coloring began to be applied already in the factory. The most common in this case was the following color scheme: olive green of the upper planes and light gray or natural metal colors of the lower ones. Often the olive-green coloring was applied in the form of separate spots in the form of a "field" coloring. In this case, usually black or dark blue anti-reflective paint was applied on top of the nose.

Experienced and training machines were painted on all surfaces in orange, they had to be clearly visible in the air and on the ground.

The so-called "combat stripes" around the rear fuselage in front of the empennage were used as identification marks. Sometimes they were also applied to the wings. In the last two years of the war, they also included the yellow coloring of the leading edges of the wings to about the middle of the console. But in general, the camouflage schemes for aircraft of the Japanese army aviation often differed from the generally accepted ones and were quite diverse.

Red circles "hinomaru" were used as signs of nationality. They were applied on both sides of the rear fuselage, on the upper and lower planes of the wings. On biplanes, "hinomaru" was applied on the upper planes of the upper wing and the lower planes of the lower pair of wings. On camouflaged aircraft, the Hinomaru usually had a white trim, and sometimes a thin red one as well. On Japanese air defense aircraft, "hinomaru" was applied on white stripes on the fuselage and on the wings.

As the Sino-Japanese War developed, Japanese aircraft began to use markings of individual parts, usually quite colorful. It was either an artistic depiction of a sentai number or a hieroglyph of the first syllabary in the name of the base airfield, or a conventional sign like an arrow. Images of animals or birds were rarely used. Usually, these signs were first applied to the rear of the fuselage and empennage, and then only to the fin and rudder. At the same time, the color of the sign of the unit indicated belonging to a particular unit. So, the headquarters link had a cobalt-blue color of the badge, and 1, 2, 3 and 4 chutai, respectively, were white, red, yellow and green. In this case, the sign often had a white border.

Fleet aircraft also at the beginning of the war in China had a light gray color or the color of natural duralumin. Later, they received sky gray or camouflage dark green and yellow-brown coloration on the upper planes and light gray on the lower planes. True, by the beginning of the war in the Pacific, Japanese naval aircraft were mostly not painted at all and had the color of duralumin.

With the entry of Japan into the Second World War, it was decided to introduce camouflage for torpedo bombers, flying boats and seaplanes. On them, the upper planes were painted in dark green, and the lower planes were painted in light gray, light blue, or had the color of natural metal. Since carrier-based aircraft retained their sky-gray color, when they were relocated to coastal airfields, service personnel applied dark green spots on top of them. At the same time, the intensity of such coloration was quite different: from a barely noticeable "greening", for example, of a keel, to an almost complete dark green coloration.

However, in July 1943, a single solid dark green color of the upper planes was introduced for all combat aircraft of naval aviation.

Experimental and training aircraft were painted orange on all planes, but as the war approached the coast of Japan, the upper planes began to be covered with a dark green color, while the lower planes remained orange. At the very end of the war, all these aircraft received full "combat" camouflage coloring.

In addition, it was common practice for aircraft with an air-cooled engine to paint the hood black, although on some types (Mitsubishi G4M and J2M it was practically not used.

With the outbreak of war, the "combat" stripes on the tails of the fleet's vehicles were painted over, but the yellow coloring of the leading edges of the wings, similar to army aircraft, remained.

The Hinomaru nationality insignia was modeled on the army, but on naval air defense aircraft, in contrast to the army, white stripes were not applied under them. True, sometimes "hinomaru" was applied in white or yellow squares.

Part designations were applied to the keel and stabilizer of the aircraft. At the beginning of the war, one or two hieroglyphs of the syllabic letter "Kana" were applied to the keel, usually denoting the name of the base in the metropolis to which the aircraft was assigned. If the aircraft was on one or another theater of operations, it received a Latin letter or even a Latin numeral for carrier-based aircraft. The designation of the part through a hyphen was usually followed by a three-digit number of the aircraft itself.

In the middle of the war, the alphanumeric designation system was replaced with a purely digital one (two to four digits). The first digit usually meant the nature of the unit, the other two meant its number, then, through a hyphen, the usually two-digit number of the aircraft itself also followed. And, finally, by the end of the war, since many units were concentrated in Japan, they again returned to the alphanumeric notation.

Japanese aircraft designation system

During the Second World War, the Japanese Air Force used several aircraft designation systems at once, which completely confused Allied intelligence. So, for example, the aircraft of the Japanese army aviation usually had the number "china" (designs) for example Ki 61, the type number "army type 3 fighter" and the proper name Hien. To simplify identification, the Allies introduced their own aircraft code designation. So, Key 61 became "Tony".

Initially, for about 15 years of its existence, the Japanese army aviation used several aircraft designation systems at once, mainly adopting factory designations. But by the beginning of World War II, none of the aircraft with these notation systems had survived.

In 1927, a system of type numbers was introduced, which was used until the very defeat of Japan. In parallel, since 1932, the system of numbers "China" (design number NN) began to be used. In addition, some aircraft received their own names. Special notation systems were used to designate experimental aircraft, autogyros and gliders.

Since 1932, all Japanese army aircraft have received a continuous numbering "China", including the types already adopted for service. The end-to-end numbering "China" was retained until 1944, when, in order to mislead the Allied intelligence, it became arbitrary. In addition to the "China" number, the aircraft received Roman numerals designating different models. Aircraft of the same model, in addition, differed depending on the modifications and an additional letter of one of the Japanese alphabets: the first modification was called "Ko", the second "Otsu", the third "Hei" and so on (these hieroglyphs did not mean any particular digital or alphabetical order of calculation, rather they corresponded to the notation "north" "east" "south" "west"). Recently, not only in the West, but also in Japanese aviation literature, it is customary to put a Latin letter instead of the corresponding Japanese character after Roman numerals. Sometimes, in addition to the numerical and alphabetic designation of modifications and models, the abbreviation KAI (from "Kaizo" modified) was also used. It is customary to designate the design number abroad with the letters "Ki", ​​however, in Japanese documents, the English Ki was never used, but the corresponding hieroglyph was used, so we will use the Russian abbreviation Ki in the future.

As a result, for example, for the line of the Hien Ki 61 fighter, such a notation looked like this:

Ki 61 - the designation of the project and the prototype
Key 61-Ia - the first production model "Hiena"
Ki 61-Ib - a modified version of the production model "Hiena"
Ki 61-I KAIS - the third version of the first production model
Ki 61-I KAID - the fourth version of the first production model
Ki 61-II - experimental aircraft of the second production model
Ki 61-II KAI - modified experimental aircraft of the second production model
Ki 61-II KAIA - the first version of the second production model
Ki 61-II KAIB - the second version of the second production model
Ki 61-III - project of the third production model

For gliders, the designation "Ku" (from "Kuraida" glider) was used. For some types of aircraft, brand designations were also used (for example, for the Kayabe Ka 1 autogyro). There was a separate designation system for missiles, but the Kawanishi Igo-1-B sample was also called Ki 148 in order to disorient Allied intelligence.

In addition to the "China" numbers, army aviation also used numbering according to the years the model was put into service, which included a short designation of the aircraft's purpose. The numbering was carried out according to the Japanese system of chronology, while the last two digits were taken. So, an aircraft put into service in 1939 (or in 2599 according to the Japanese calendar) became "type 99", and put into service in 1940 (that is, in 2600) "type 100".

Thus, the aircraft put into service in 1937 received such a long designation: Nakajima Ki 27 "fighter army type 97"; Mitsubishi Ki 30 "army type 97 light bomber"; Mitsubishi Ki 21 "heavy bomber army type 97"; Mitsubishi Ki 15 "strategic reconnaissance army type 97". The designation of the purpose of the aircraft helped to avoid confusion, for example, for two "types 97" of the Mitsubishi Ki 30 single-engine bomber and the Ki 21 twin-engine bomber of the same company. True, sometimes two types of aircraft of the same purpose were put into service in one year. For example, in 1942, the Ki 45 KAI twin-engine fighter and the single-engine Ki 44 fighter were adopted. In this case, the Ki 45 became the "army type 2 two-seat fighter", and the Ki 44 "military type 2 single-seat fighter."

For various modifications of aircraft in a long system of designations, the model number was additionally assigned with an Arabic numeral, the serial version number and a Latin letter, the modification number of this serial model. As a result, in relation to the numbering "China", the long designation looked like this:

Ki 61 - before the adoption of the aircraft, the type number was not assigned
Ki 61-Ia - Army type 3 fighter model 1A (type 3 by year 2603)
Ki 61-Ib - army type 3 fighter model 1B
Ki 61-I KAIS - army type 3 fighter model 1C
Ki 61-I KAId - army type 3 fighter model 1D
Ki 61-II - again, the experimental aircraft does not have type numbers
Key 61-II KAI - no
Ki 61-II KAIA - army type 3 fighter model 2A
Ki 61-II KAIb - army type 3 fighter model 2B
Ki 61-III - experimental aircraft, no type number

For foreign aircraft, the abbreviation of the name of the country of manufacture and the native company was used as a type designation. For example, the Fiat BR.20 was designated "heavy bomber type 1" and the transport aircraft Lockheed "type LO".

In addition to these two designation systems, since the entry of Japan into World War II, aircraft have received short nicknames. The reason for this was, on the one hand, the clear readability for the allied intelligence of a long name to determine the type of aircraft and its purpose, on the other hand, the difficulty of using a long designation in a combat situation, for example, when talking over the radio. In addition, the catchy names of the aircraft were to be used in promoting the actions of their own aviation among the population of Japan. Moreover, if the fleet followed a certain system when assigning such names, then the army assigned them completely arbitrarily.

In addition, in a combat situation, abbreviations of the long name of the aircraft were used, which became widely known, but nevertheless rarely used in the future. So, "strategic reconnaissance army type 100" was also called "Sin-City" and "attack aircraft type 99" "Guntei".

In turn, by the beginning of the Pacific War, the aviation of the Japanese fleet had as many as three aircraft designation systems: "C" numbers, "type" numbers and a "short" designation. Later during the war, the fleet began to use two more ways to designate aircraft, now they used their own names and a special designation system developed by the fleet aviation bureau.

The designation system for experimental aircraft "C" was used for all experimental aircraft commissioned by the fleet, starting in 1932, the seventh year of the reign of Emperor Hirohito. Therefore, the aircraft developed under the aircraft construction program of this year were called 7-Si, and the developments of 1940 were called 15-Si. In order to distinguish between different aircraft created under the same program, a description of the purpose of the aircraft was used (carrier-based fighter, reconnaissance seaplane, etc.). As a result, for example, the full designation of the 1932 seaplane developed by Kawanishi was: "experimental reconnaissance seaplane 7-Ci." This notation, similar to the British, was used until the end of the war.

In addition, at the end of the 30s, the fleet adopted a short aircraft designation system, similar to that used by the US Naval Aviation until 1962, an alphanumeric combination. The first letter indicated the purpose of the aircraft:

A - carrier-based fighter
B - torpedo bomber
C - carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft
D - deck dive bomber
E - reconnaissance seaplane
F - patrol seaplane
G - coastal bomber
H - flying boat
J - coastal fighter
K - training aircraft
L - transport aircraft
M - "special" aircraft
MX - aircraft for special missions
N - float fighter
P - bomber
Q - patrol aircraft
R - coastal reconnaissance
S - night fighter

This was followed by a number indicating the procedure for adopting this type into service; it was assigned when the aircraft development program was launched. Then came the letter combination, denoting the company that developed the aircraft. At the end was the model number of this aircraft. Minor modifications made to the car were indicated by a Latin letter.

In addition, if an aircraft changed its designation during its life cycle, then a letter of the corresponding type of aircraft followed through a hyphen. So, the training version of the aircraft received, for example, the designation B5N2-K.

Foreign-designed aircraft in place of the manufacturer's letter received the abbreviated name of their company (for Heinkel, for example, A7Nel), and if the aircraft was purchased for experimental purposes, then instead of the number there was the letter X, that is, AHNel).

In the fleet, the following abbreviations of the names of the developer companies were used:

A - Aichi and North American
B - Boeing
C - Consolidated
D - Douglas
G - Hitachi
N - Hiro and Hawker
Not - Heinkel
J - Nipon kagata and Junkers
K - Kawanishi and Kinnear
M - Mitsubishi
N - Nakajima
R - Nihon
S - Sasebo
Si - Owl
V - Vout-Sikorsky
W - Watanabe, later Kyushu
Y - Yokosuka
Z - Mizuno

Since 1921, for most aircraft produced in Japan, the Navy has used a long designation of the aircraft, which included a brief description of its purpose and type number. From 1921 to 1928, numbers were used indicating the year of the era of the next emperor, that is, from 1921 to 1926 numbers from 10 to 15, and in 1927-28 2 and 3. However, after 1929, the last two digits of the current year were used according to the Japanese calendar. For the year 2600 (that is, 1940), the designation "type 0" was obtained (in the army, if you remember, "type 100").

To designate various modifications of the same type of aircraft, the model number was used in the long designation: initially one digit (for example, "model 1") or through a hyphen also the revision number ("model 1-1"). Since the late 30s, changes have been made to the numbering of models; it has become two-digit. The first digit now meant the serial number of the modification, and the second the installation of a new motor. So, "model 11" meant the first serial modification, "model 21" the second serial modification with the same engine, and "model 22" the second modification with a new type of engine. Additional improvements within the same modification were indicated by the character of the Japanese alphabet: "Ko" the first, "Otsu" the second, "Hei" the third. Usually they were replaced by the letter of the Latin alphabet corresponding in order, that is, the Mitsubishi A6M5s or "carrier-based bomber marine type 0 model 52-Hei" was also written "model 52C".

A similar long designation was used for foreign-designed aircraft, with the type number replaced by the abbreviated name of the company, that is, the Heinkel A7Nel had a long designation of the He air defense fighter.

At the end of 1942, the long designation system was changed in order to preserve the secrecy of the purpose of the aircraft: it now included the code designation of the aircraft. Prior to that, relatively few aircraft proper names that had become generally accepted had taken root in fleet aviation. So, the Mitsubishi G4M1 bomber was nicknamed "Hamaki" (Cigar). However, in July 1943, the fleet revised the aircraft designation system and began to add the aircraft's own name to the long name. In this case, the name of the aircraft was chosen according to the following principle:

fighters were designated by the names of weather phenomena - deck and hydrofighters were baptized by the names of the winds (the names ended in fu)
air defense fighters - variations on the theme of lightning (ended in den)
night fighter names ended in ko (light)
attack aircraft were designated by the names of mountains
scouts were called different clouds
bombers - by the names of stars (s) or constellations (zan)
patrol planes - by the names of the oceans
training machines - names of various plants and flowers
auxiliary aircraft were called elements of the landscape

In 1939, the Fleet Aviation Bureau launched a program to improve the aviation service, under which design teams received certain requirements and project development conditions for submission to the fleet aviation before receiving an order for a full-scale design. Aircraft projects that took these requirements into account received a special design designation, consisting of an abbreviation of the company name, like a short designation, and a two-character number (10, 20, 30, etc.). True, the specific numbers of the projects that were worn by certain aircraft were buried along with the documentation destroyed before the surrender of Japan.

The allies, who had little understanding of the designation system for Japanese aircraft and often did not know what this or that aircraft was actually called, starting somewhere in the second half of 1942, began to give Japanese aircraft various nicknames. At first, all the planes that were fighters were called "Zero", and all that dropped bombs were called "Mitsubishi". To put an end to various misunderstandings, the Allied Air Technical Intelligence Service was asked to clean up the matter.

The official Japanese aircraft designations, if they became known to the Allies, were of little help. Tried to use them for lack of anything better. They also tried to use the names of manufacturers to designate aircraft, but this led to confusion if the aircraft was produced by several companies at once.

In June 1942, American intelligence captain Frank McCoy, sent as an intelligence officer to Australia, organized an enemy materiel section as part of the Allied Air Force Intelligence Directorate in Melbourne. McCoy had only two men at his disposal, Sergeant Francis Williams and Corporal Joseph Grattan. It was they who were tasked with identifying Japanese aircraft. McCoy himself described his work as follows:

“In order to identify Japanese aircraft, the urgent task immediately arose to introduce some kind of classification of them, and we decided to start by adopting our own system for codifying enemy aircraft. Since I myself am from Tennessee, we used various village nicknames Zeke, Nate, Roof, Jack , Reet is simple, short and easy to remember.Sergeant Williams and I gave rise to these nicknames in numerous disputes, and began to use our aircraft codes from July 1942. This work received the full support of the head of the intelligence service, Commodore of the British Royal Air Force Hewitt and his deputy Major of the American Air Force Ben Kane, and they offered to urgently finish this work. I told them that I was already working like a man possessed, because everyone around him thought we were crazy. In the first month alone, we assigned 75 codes."

Thus, most of the designations of Japanese aircraft used by the Allied air forces appeared. By September 1942, the intelligence of the southwestern sector of the Pacific began to prepare information using this notation. Soon sheets with silhouettes and code names of Japanese aircraft began to arrive in the South Pacific and Burma. McCoy meanwhile began to seek from Washington and the Air Ministry in London the standardization of this or a similar system of codification. His requests were initially met with incomprehension, once even McCoy was called to explain to General MacArthur: it turned out that one of the code designations "Hap" was the nickname of the Chief of Staff of the American Army, General Henry Arnold, and "Jane" (the code designation for the most common Japanese bomber, Ki 21) turned out to be the name of MacArthur's own wife. At the end of 1942, the code designation system for Japanese aircraft was adopted by the US Air Force and the Navy and Marine Corps, and a few months later by the British Air Ministry.

After that, McCoy's section was already officially given the task of codifying all new Japanese aircraft. At the same time, code designations were assigned randomly, but in the summer of 1944 the joint air center in Anacostia took over this task and introduced the following code assignment principle: Japanese fighters of all types received male names; bombers, reconnaissance and transport aircraft are female (transport with the letter T), training machines are the names of trees, and gliders are birds. True, there were exceptions to the rule. Thus, the Nakajima Ki 44 fighter, which had already received the nickname "Tojo" in China after the then Prime Minister of Japan, retained this code designation by common consent.

The aircraft was produced by Kawasaki in 1935-1938. It was an all-metal biplane with fixed landing gear and an open cockpit. A total of 588 cars were produced, incl. Ki-10-I - 300 vehicles and Ki-10-II - 280 vehicles. TTX machines: length - 7.2 m; height - 3 m; wingspan - 10 m; wing area - 23 m²; empty weight - 1.4 tons, take-off - 1.7 tons; engine - Kawasaki Ha-9 with a power of 850 hp; rate of climb - 1,000 m / m; maximum speed - 400 km / h, practical range - 1,100 km; practical ceiling - 11,500 m; armament - two 7.7 mm Type 89 machine guns; crew - 1 person.

The night heavy fighter was produced by Kawasaki in 1942-1945. A total of 1.7 thousand vehicles were produced in four serial modifications: Ki-45 KAIa, Ki-45 KAIb, Ki-45 KAIc and Ki-45 KAId. TTX machines: length - 11 m; height - 3.7 m; wingspan - 15 m; wing area - 32 m²; empty weight - 4 tons, take-off - 5.5 tons; engines - two Mitsubishi Ha-102 with a capacity of 1,080 hp; the volume of fuel tanks - 1 thousand liters; rate of climb - 11 m / s; maximum speed - 547 km / h; practical range - 2,000 km; practical ceiling - 9,200 m; armament - 37-mm gun No-203, two 20-mm Ho-5, 7.92-mm machine gun Type 98; ammunition 1,050 rounds; bomb load - 500 kg; crew - 2 people.

The aircraft was produced by Kawasaki in 1942-1945. It had an all-metal semi-monoque fuselage structure, pilot armor and protected tanks. In total, 3.2 thousand vehicles were produced in two serial versions: Ki-61-I and Ki-61-II, which differed in equipment and weapons. TTX machines: length - 9.2 m; height - 3.7 m; wingspan - 12 m; wing area - 20 m²; empty weight - 2.8 tons, take-off - 3.8 tons; engine - Kawasaki Ha-140 with a capacity of 1,175 - 1,500 hp; the volume of fuel tanks - 550 l; rate of climb - 13.9 - 15.2 m / s; maximum speed - 580 - 610 km / h, cruising - 450 km / h; practical range - 1,100 - 1,600 km; practical ceiling - 11,000 m; armament - two 20-mm No-5 guns, two 12.7-mm machine guns Type No-103, 1,050 rounds of ammunition; bomb load - 500 kg; crew - 1 person.

The aircraft was produced by Kawasaki based on the Ki-61 Hien in 1945 by replacing the liquid-cooled engine with an air-cooled engine. A total of 395 vehicles were produced in two versions: Ki-100-Ia and Ki-100-Ib. TTX machines: length - 8.8 m; height - 3.8 m; wingspan - 12 m; wing area - 20 m²; empty weight - 2.5 tons, take-off - 3.5 tons; engine - Mitsubishi Ha 112-II with a capacity of 1,500 hp rate of climb - 16.8 m / s; maximum speed -580 km / h, cruising - 400 km / h; practical range - 2,200 km; practical ceiling - 11,000 m; armament - two 20-mm guns No-5 and two 12.7-mm machine guns Type No-103; crew - 1 person.

A twin-engine, two-seat, long-range fighter-interceptor was produced by Kawasaki based on the Ki-96 in 1944-1945. A total of 238 vehicles were built. TTX machines: length - 11.5 m; height - 3.7 m; wingspan - 15.6 m; wing area - 34 m²; empty weight -5 tons, take-off - 7.3 tons; engines - two Mitsubishi Ha-112 with a capacity of 1,500 hp; rate of climb - 12 m / s; maximum speed - 580 km / h; practical range - 1,200 km; practical ceiling - 10,000 m; armament - 57-mm gun No-401, two 20-mm guns No-5 and 12.7-mm machine gun Type No-103; bomb load - 500 kg; crew - 2 people.

The single-seat fighter of all-metal construction "N1K-J Shiden" was produced by Kawanishi in 1943-1945. in two serial modifications: N1K1-J and N1K2-J. A total of 1.4 thousand cars were produced. TTX machines: length - 8.9 - 9.4 m; height - 4 m; wingspan - 12 m; wing area - 23.5 m²; empty weight -2.7 - 2.9 tons, take-off - 4.3 - 4.9 tons; engine - Nakajima NK9H with a power of 1,990 hp; rate of climb - 20.3 m / s; maximum speed - 590 km / h, cruising - 365 km / h; practical range - 1,400 - 1,700 km; practical ceiling - 10,700 m; armament - two 20 mm Type 99 cannons and two 7.7 mm machine guns or four 20 mm Type 99 cannons; bomb load - 500 kg; crew - 1 person.

A single-seat fighter-interceptor of all-metal construction was produced by Mitsubishi in 1942-1945. A total of 621 vehicles of the following modifications were produced: J-2M1 - (8 vehicles), J-2M2 - (131), J-2M3 (435), J-2M4 - (2), J-2M5 - (43) and J- 2M6(2). TTX machines: length - 10 m; height - 4 m; wingspan - 10.8 m; wing area - 20 m²; empty weight - 2.5 tons, take-off - 3.4 tons; engine - Mitsubishi MK4R-A with a power of 1,820 hp; rate of climb - 16 m / s; maximum speed - 612 km / h, cruising - 350 km / h; practical range - 1,900 km; practical ceiling - 11,700 m; armament - four 20-mm guns Type 99; bomb load - 120 kg; crew - 1 person.

A twin-engine night fighter of all-metal construction was produced by Mitsubishi on the basis of the Ki-46 reconnaissance aircraft in 1944-1945. It was a low-winged monoplane with a retractable tailwheel undercarriage. In total, 613 thousand cars were produced. TTX machines: length - 11 m; height - 3.9 m; wingspan - 14.7 m; wing area - 32 m²; empty weight - 3.8 tons, take-off - 6.2 tons; engines - two Mitsubishi Ha-112 with a capacity of 1,500 hp; the volume of fuel tanks - 1.7 thousand liters; rate of climb - 7.4 m / s; maximum speed - 630 km / h, cruising - 425 km / h; practical range - 2,500 km; practical ceiling - 10,700 m; armament - 37 mm cannon and two 20 mm cannons; crew - 2 people.

An all-metal loitering fighter-interceptor was produced by Mitsubishi in 1944 based on the Ki-67 bomber. A total of 22 cars were produced. TTX machines: length - 18 m; height - 5.8 m; wingspan - 22.5 m; wing area - 65.9 m²; empty weight -7.4 tons, take-off - 10.8 tons; engines - two Mitsubishi Ha-104 with a power of 1900 hp; rate of climb - 8.6 m / s; maximum speed - 550 km / h, cruising - 410 km / h; practical range - 2,200 km; practical ceiling - 12,000 m; armament - 75-mm cannon Type 88, 12.7-mm machine gun Type 1; crew - 4 people.

The twin-engine night fighter was produced by Nakajima Aircraft in 1942-1944. A total of 479 vehicles were built in four modifications: J-1n1-C KAI, J-1N1-R (J1N1-F), J-1N1-S and J-1N1-Sa. TTX machines: length - 12.2 - 12.8 m; height - 4.6 m; wingspan - 17 m; wing area - 40 m²; empty weight - 4.5-5 tons, take-off - 7.5 - 8.2 tons; engines - two Nakajima NK1F Sakae 21/22 with a power of 980 - 1,130 hp; rate of climb - 8.7 m / s; fuel tank capacity - 1.7 - 2.3 thousand liters; maximum speed - 507 km / h, cruising - 330 km / h; practical range - 2,500 - 3,800 km; practical ceiling - 9,300 - 10,300 m; armament - two to four 20 mm Type 99 cannons or a 20 mm cannon and four 7.7 mm Type 97 machine guns; crew - 2 people.

The fighter was produced by the Nakajima company in 1938-1942. in two main modifications: Ki-27a and Ki-27b. It was a single-seat all-metal low-wing aircraft with a closed cockpit and fixed landing gear. A total of 3.4 thousand cars were produced. TTX machines: length - 7.5 m; height - 3.3 m; wingspan - 11.4 m; wing area - 18.6 m²; empty weight - 1.2 tons, take-off - 1.8 tons; engine - Nakajima Ha-1 with a power of 650 hp; rate of climb - 15.3 m / s; maximum speed - 470 km / h, cruising - 350 km / h; practical range - 1,700 km; practical ceiling - 10,000 m; armament - 12.7 mm machine gun Type 1 and 7.7 mm machine gun Type 89 or two 7.7 mm machine guns; bomb load - 100 kg; crew - 1 person.

Fighter Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa

The aircraft was produced by Nakajima in 1942-1945. It was an all-metal single-engine single-seat cantilever low-wing aircraft. The rear of the fuselage was a single unit with the tail unit. At the base of the wing there were retractable all-metal flaps, increasing not only the curvature of its profile, but also the area. A total of 5.9 thousand vehicles were produced in three serial modifications - Ki-43-I/II/III. TTX machines: length - 8.9 m; height - 3.3 m; wingspan - 10.8 m; wing area - 21.4 m²; empty weight - 1.9 tons, take-off - 2.9 tons; engine - Nakajima Ha-115 with a power of 1,130 hp; rate of climb - 19.8 m / s; the volume of fuel tanks - 563 l; maximum speed - 530 km / h, cruising - 440 km / h; practical range - 3,200 km; practical ceiling - 11,200 m; armament - two 12.7-mm machine guns No-103 or two 20-mm guns Ho-5; bomb load - 500 kg; crew - 1 person.

A single-seat fighter-interceptor of all-metal construction was produced by Nakajima in 1942-1944. It had a semi-monocoque fuselage, a low-lying wing with all-metal flaps equipped with a hydraulic actuator. The pilot's cockpit was covered with a teardrop-shaped lantern of all-round visibility. Tricycle landing gear with two main struts and a tail wheel. All landing gear wheels in flight were removed by a hydraulic system and covered with shields. A total of 1.3 thousand aircraft were produced. TTX machines: length - 8.9 m; height - 3 m; wingspan - 9.5 m; wing area - 15 m²; empty weight - 2.1 tons, take-off - 3 tons; engine - Nakajima Ha-109 with a power of 1,520 hp; the volume of fuel tanks - 455 l; rate of climb - 19.5 m / s; maximum speed - 605 km / h, cruising - 400 km / h; practical range - 1,700 km; practical ceiling - 11,200 m; armament - four 12.7-mm machine guns No-103 or two 40-mm guns Ho-301, 760 rounds of ammunition; bomb load - 100 kg; crew - 1 person.

A single-seat fighter was produced by Nakajima in 1943-1945. in total, 3.5 thousand vehicles were produced in the following modifications: Ki-84, Ki-84-Ia / b / c and Ki-84-II. It was a cantilever low-wing monoplane of all-metal construction. It had pilot armor, armored fuel tanks and retractable landing gear. TTX machines: length - 9.9 m; height - 3.4 m; wingspan - 11.2 m; wing area - 21 m²; empty weight - 2.7 tons, take-off - 4.1 tons; engine - Nakajima Na-45 with a capacity of 1,825 - 2,028 hp; the volume of fuel tanks - 737 l; rate of climb - 19.3 m / s; maximum speed - 630 - 690 km / h, cruising - 450 km / h; practical range - 1,700 km; practical ceiling - 11,500 m; armament - two 20 mm No-5 cannons, two 12.7 mm Type No-103 machine guns or four 20 mm No-5; bomb load - 500 kg; crew - 1 person.