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Archie to SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air ...

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ANTIAIRCRAFT DEFENSE THROUGH WORLD WAR II<br />

Little wonder that Japanese flak proved less effective than<br />

the firepower <strong>of</strong> the other combatants. <strong>Based</strong> on overall losses<br />

and losses per sortie, the air war against Germany was much<br />

more costly <strong>to</strong> the AAF (18,418 aircraft and 1.26 percent <strong>of</strong><br />

sorties) than the air war against Japan (4,530 aircraft and .77<br />

percent <strong>of</strong> sorties). 97 In the entire war, the AAF credited<br />

Japanese flak with destroying 1,524 AAF aircraft and Japanese<br />

fighters with destroying 1,037 (fig. 33). Japanese AAA did better<br />

proportionally against the US Navy than against the US<br />

Marine Corps, claiming 1,545 <strong>of</strong> 2,166 Navy aircraft lost in<br />

combat as compared with 437 <strong>of</strong> 723 Marine aircraft.<br />

Figure 33. A-20 aircraft sequence. This Douglas A-20 was downed by<br />

Japanese guns over Karos, Dutch New Guinea. (Reprinted from USAF.)<br />

54

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