By 1941, the Japanese Army Air Force had about 1,500 combat aircraft. During the first years of the war, Japan continued technical development and deployment of increasingly advanced aircraft and enjoyed
air superiority over most battlefields due to the combat experience of its crews and the handling qualities of its aircraft. However, as the war continued, Japan found that its production could not match that of the Allies. On top of these production problems, Japan faced continuous combat and thus continued losses. Furthermore, there were continual production disruptions brought on by moving factories from location to location, each transfer with the goal of avoiding the Allied strategic bombing. Between these factors and others, such as the restricted strategic materials, the Japanese found themselves materialistically outmatched. In terms of manpower, Japan was even worse off. Experienced crews were killed and replacements had not been planned. The Japanese had lost skilled trainers, and they did not have the fuel or the time to use the trainers they did have. Because of this, towards the end of its existence the JAAF resorted to
kamikaze attacks against overwhelmingly superior Allied forces. , the IJAAF's youngest
sentai squadron commander
World War II aircraft Important aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force during the
Second Sino-Japanese War and
World War II were:
Fighters •
Nakajima Ki-27 'Nate' •
Nakajima Ki-43 'Oscar' •
Nakajima Ki-44 'Tojo' •
Kawasaki Ki-45 Kai 'Nick' •
Kawasaki Ki-61 'Tony' •
Nakajima Ki-84 'Frank' •
Kawasaki Ki-100 •
Mitsubishi Ki-109 Bombers •
Mitsubishi Ki-21 'Sally' •
Mitsubishi Ki-30 'Ann' •
Kawasaki Ki-32 'Mary' •
Kawasaki Ki-48 'Lily' •
Nakajima Ki-49 'Helen' •
Mitsubishi Ki-67 'Peggy'
Forward air control aircraft •
Mitsubishi Ki-51 'Sonia' •
Kawasaki Ki-102 'Randy'
Transports •
Nakajima Ki-34 'Thora' •
Mitsubishi Ki-57 'Topsy' •
Kawasaki Ki-56 'Thalia' •
Kokusai Ki-59 'Theresa'
Reconnaissance planes •
Mitsubishi Ki-15 'Babs' •
Tachikawa Ki-36 'Ida' •
Mitsubishi Ki-51 'Sonia' •
Mitsubishi Ki-46 Dinah Trainers •
Tachikawa Ki-9 Spruce •
Tachikawa Ki-17 'Cedar' •
Tachikawa Ki-55 'Ida' •
Tachikawa Ki-54 'Hickory' •
Manshū Ki-79 •
Kokusai Ki-86 'Cypress'
Other planes •
Kokusai Ki-76 'Stella' •
Kayaba Ka-1 Organization Army Aeronautical Department Sections • Commander-in-Chief of Army Air Service Office • Air Service Staff Department • General Affairs and Administrative Department •
Inspectorate General of Aviation • General Affairs Unit of Inspectorate of Army Aviation • Air Training and Instruction Department •
Imperial Japanese Army Air Service Academy • Supply Bureau •
Tachikawa Army Air Arsenal • Army Air Transport Department • Army Air Intelligence Department
Operational Organization With the start of the
Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, operational conditions favored the use of many small units, resulting in the creation of many or even , each with its own distinctive markings. In August 1938, a complete re-organization of the Army Air Service resulted in the creation of the , which replaced all of the former Air Battalions and Air Regiments. Each Air Combat Group was a single-purpose unit consisting typically of three squadrons, divided into three of three aircraft each. Together with reserve aircraft and the headquarters flight, an Air Combat Group typically had 45 aircraft (fighter) or up to 30 aircraft (bomber or reconnaissance). Two or more Air Combat Groups formed an , which, together with base and support units and a number of Independent Squadrons, formed an . In 1942, the Air Corps were renamed , to mirror the terminology for
infantry divisions, but the structure remained the same. Two Air Divisions, together with some independent units made an . Throughout most of the
Pacific War, the Japanese Army Air Service was organized into four Air Armies, with two more added in the final stages of the war: •
1st Air Army – HQ
Tokyo, basing in the
Kanto Plain covering the
Japanese home islands,
Taiwan,
Korea,
Chishima, and
Karafuto. •
2nd Air Army - HQ
Xinjing, covering
Manchukuo •
3rd Air Army - HQ
Singapore, covering
Southeast Asia •
4th Air Army - HQ
Rabaul, covering the
Solomon Islands and
New Guinea. Eventually based in the Philippines. Dissolved January 1945. •
5th Air Army - HQ
Nanjing, covering Japanese-occupied portions of southern and eastern
China from February 1944. •
6th Air Army – on
Kyūshū covering Taiwan and
Okinawa In April 1944, a reorganization of the Japanese Army Air Service occurred. Maintenance and ground service units, formerly a separate command, were merged into the Air Combat Group (
Hiko Sentai). The flying squadrons of the Air Combat Group were re-designated as , and the ground units were designated . Other changes in the final stages of the war were the formation of "Special Attack Units" and "Air-shaking Units", which were short-lived units with their own names (often taken from Japanese mythology or history) and markings, but located within existing squadrons. These units were specially designated and trained with the mission of air-to-air ramming of Allied bomber aircraft. They usually had their armaments removed and their airframes reinforced. In the final phase of the war, the Special Attack Units evolved into dedicated suicide units for
kamikaze missions. Around 170 of these units were formed, 57 by the Instructor Air Division alone. Notionally equipped with 12 aircraft each, it eventually comprised around 2,000 aircraft. The final reorganisation of the took place during preparation for
Operation Ketsu-Go, the defence of the home islands in 1945 against expected invasion when all the Air Armies were combined under a centralised command of General
Masakazu Kawabe.
Special Operations Forces Teishin Shudan ("Raiding Group") was the IJA's
special forces/
airborne unit during
World War II. The word
teishin may be literally translated as "dash forward", and is usually translated as "raiding". It may also be regarded as similar to the "
commando" designation in the terminology of other armies. Called a
division, the unit was a brigade-sized force, and was part of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS). The
Teishin units were therefore distinct from the
marine parachute units of the
Special Naval Landing Forces. was an airborne
special forces unit of the
Imperial Japanese Army formed from
Army paratroopers, in late 1944 as a last-ditch attempt to reduce and delay
Allied bombing raids on the
Japanese home islands. The
Giretsu Special Forces unit was commanded by Lieutenant General
Kyoji Tominaga.
Strength In 1940 the Japanese Army Air Service consisted of the following: • 33,000 personnel • Over 1,600 aircraft (including 1,375 first line combat aircraft). • The aircraft were organized into 85 Squadrons; • 36 fighter • 28 light bomber • 22 medium bomber • Total military in August 1945 was 6,095,000 including 676,863 Army Air Service.
First Tachikawa Army Air Arsenal The Japanese Air Army Force had one technical section, the First Tachikawa Air Army Arsenal, which was in charge of aviation research and development. The Arsenal included a testing section for captured Allied aircraft, the Air Technical Research Laboratory (Koku Gijutsu Kenkyujo). The Army Air Arsenal was also connected with
Tachikawa Hikoki K.K. and
Rikugun Kokukosho K.K., the Army-owned and operated aircraft manufacturing companies. much as the IJNAS operated its own firm, the
Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal.
Army escort aircraft carriers Due to the poor relations between the Imperial Japanese Army and
Imperial Japanese Navy, the Army found it necessary to procure and operate their own
aircraft carriers for the purposes of providing escort and protection for Army transport shipping convoys. These "
auxiliary escort carriers" were converted from merchant ships and possessed the capacity to operate few aircraft as well serve in some other auxiliary roles, depending on type and size. Three classes were planned, all conversion of "
TL Type cargo ships" (TL型), the
Special 2TL Type (3 ships), Special 3TL Type (3 ships), and Special 4TL Type (0 ship), the
Special 1TL Type being operated by the Navy. Only the from the Special 2TL Type was completed before the war's end. Those carriers only had a modest airwing (8 for Yamashio Maru), as they kept some of their cargo and tanker capacity. The army also developed "
landing craft carriers" for amphibious assaults, with among them the Types "C" and "MC", which were fitted with flight decks for some limited aerial support. Four ships were planned, with only the and being completed before the war's end. The only aircraft operated by those ships were the
Kokusai Ki-76 (
STOL liaison aircraft), and
Kayaba Ka-1 (
autogyros).
Uniforms and equipment As an integral part of the IJA, the Army Air Service wore the standard
Imperial Japanese Army Uniforms. Only flying personnel and ground crews wore sky blue trim and stripes, while officers wore their ranks on sky blue patches. == See also ==