Since the creation of the state in 1932, an airline called the Manchukuo Paramilitary Airline operated as a fleet of transports, consisting mainly of passenger aircraft. The only military action it saw was providing support to the
Inner Mongolian Army during the
Suiyuan Campaign in 1936. An "independent volunteer battalion" which included thirteen planes assisted the Inner Mongolian troops in their attempt to drive the
Nationalists out of the
Suiyuan province. The official Manchukuo Air Force was not established until February 1937, when thirty volunteers from the
Manchukuo Imperial Army were sent to
Harbin for training. Initially the
Kwantung Army commanders did not trust the Manchukuoans enough to give them an independent air arm and the early air force consisted of mostly Japanese pilots. Starting out with just one
Nieuport-Delage NiD 29, the first air unit was based in
Xinjing (Changchun). They were soon expanded with the addition of
Nakajima Army Type 91 fighters and
Kawasaki Type 88 light bombers. A second air unit was formed in
Fengtian and a third was formed in
Harbin between 1938–39, and in July 1940 a Manchukuo Air Defense headquarters was established in Xinjing. At that time the Japanese finally decided to give the state its own air force with Manchukuoan pilots and more modern aircraft. A flying school was opened in
Mukden for both military and civil pilots as part of this effort. This program suffered a major setback when one hundred Manchukuoan pilots rebelled and tried to join the guerrillas after murdering their Japanese instructors. Nonetheless the project to create an air force for Manchukuo continued. Three fighter squadrons were formed from cadets in 1942. In the 1940s the Manchukuo Air Force was greatly expanded with an influx of new trainers, transports, and its first fighters. The latter were
Nakajima Ki-27 fighters which were presented on Aviation Day, 20 September 1942. The trainers included
Tachikawa Ki-9s and
Tachikawa Ki-55s, while some
Mitsubishi Ki-57 transports were also provided. The only bomber craft it had were provided by
Kawasaki Ki-32 light bombers. Money to pay for these craft was donated by local companies in Manchukuo with Japanese "encouragement". They were also given
Nakajima Ki-43s in 1945 to have a better chance of intercepting the American
B-29 Superfortresses. The Manchukuoan pilots were given the estimated arrival time of the bombers and would take off about twenty minutes before they were due to arrive, climbing to 7,000 meters to make head-on passes before the B-29s got out of range. Some Manchukuoan pilots were also given kamikaze training and at least one downed a B-29 by crashing a Ki-27 into it. By the time the
Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation was launched by the
Soviet Red Army in August 1945, the Manchukuo Air Force had practically ceased to exist, although there were isolated incidents of Manchukuoan planes attacking Soviet aircraft. == Organization ==