Case Studies in the Achievement of Air Superiority - Air Force ...

LESSONS BEFORE WORLD WAR I1
four critical issues before 1941: 1) the development of the indigenous aircraft
industry; 2) combat experience in China and Manchuria/Mongolia;
3) aviator training; and 4) the psychological edge derived from foreign
ignorance and condescension toward the Japanese military. Again, Japan’s
experience paralleled that of Nazi Germany; air forces-in-being were prepared
for short war, and Japan intimidated less powerful neighbors with
such air power. There was little evidence to suggest that Japanese officials
in the 1920s and 1930s emphasized the strategic importance of air superiority
in Douhet’s sense, or in an attritional air war against their own home
islands.75
Japan launched her rearmament program in 1919, strengthening fleet
and land air arms for narrow, tactical missions. Aircraft such as the Fiat
BR-20 bomber (which became the IJAAF’s type I) and the Heinkel
HE-1 11B-0 and Seversky 2 PA-83 fighters were acquired through either
purchase of manufacturing rights or importation of the actual airplane.
Among those foreign countries supplying aviation equipment were Great
Britain (aircraft), Germany (engines, propellers), and the United States
(airframes, engines, parts). The Japanese sent young students to American
universities and aircraft plants to prepare for eventual self-sufficiency. By
the mid-l930s, Japanese firms like Mitsubishi, Nakajima, and Kawasaki
had become large concerns, with smaller shops such as Aichi, Kawanishi,
and Hitachi all producing modern, all-metal, low-wing monoplanes, which
ranked with foreign aircraft in capability and quality. The government protected
and partially subsidized the domestic aviation industry, which
turned to full military production only in 1939. Cooperation among the Japanese
manufacturers proved nonexistent, however, and duplication of
effort could not be prevented. Total annual military aircraft production rose
from 445 in 1930 to 1,181 in 1936, and 4,768 by 1940.7h
Japanese aircraft of the period definitely reflected the type of missions
projected by the Army and Navy and experienced during campaigns on the
mainland. The Japanese Navy Air Force (IJNAF) focused on aircraft such
as the Aichi D3A carrier dive bomber, Kawanishi H6K and H8K flying
boats, Mitsubishi A5M fighter, Mitsubishi F1M observation biplane, Nakajima
BSN and B6N carrier torpedo bombers, and the most famous of all
Japanese aircraft, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero-Sen carrier fighter. Japanese
Army Air Force (IJAAF) aircraft included the Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu twoengine,
heavy fighter; the Mitsubishi Ki-15 and Ki-30 light bombers;
Ki-46 strategic reconnaissance aircraft; and J 1N 1 reconnaissance/night
fighter. Both air arms gave attention to the development of a heavy bombardment
airplane. Mitsubishi produced the Ki-2 1, and Nakajima manufactured
the Ki-49 Donryu-both aircraft achieving 1,300-1,600 mile ranges.
By 1939, the impending possibility of war with the United States led IJNAF
officials to seek a long-range naval torpedo bomber. Mitsubishi suggested
its G4M aircraft with a range of 2,262 miles, though weak in armor and
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