Shin Meiwa US-1A

Background Following the end of the Second World War and the start of the Occupation of Japan, a ban on aircraft manufacturing imposed in December 1945 required Japan's aircraft industry to find other work. In the late 1940s, Japanese aircraft manufacturer Kawanishi Aircraft Company reorganised itself, becoming ShinMeiwa Industries. In the 1950s, the emergence of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union led to the aircraft construction ban being rescinded. The UF-XS also featured a new T-tail arrangement which resembled that of the advanced variant of the Martin P5M-2 Marlin. From 1962 onwards, the UF-XS performed numerous test flights, demonstrating the improved features which enabled a flying boat to both land and take-off from the open ocean. These tests were closely followed and critiqued by the Japanese military. ==Operational history==

performing an aerial demonstration above MCAS Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, 2011 Between 1971 and 1978, 21 PS-1 flying boats entered service with the JMSDF. Starting in 1973, they were operated as Fleet Air Wing 31. On a typical ASW mission, a PS-1 would range over hundreds of square miles of ocean, landing between 12 and 16 times to dip its sonar. In the 1980s, the JMSDF decided to replace the PS-1 in the ASW role with land-based Lockheed P-3 Orions. The last examples of the ASW variant were phased out of service in 1989. It was outlived by the Search-and-Rescue oriented US-1A fleet, which continued to be used into the 21st century. Between 1976 and 1999, Japan's US-1A fleet participated in over 500 rescues and were responsible for the saving of 550 lives. The US-1A was retired in December 2017. According to aviation periodical Air International, 827 people have been rescued by US-1s since the type entered service during 1976. It has been succeeded in its role by the modernised US-2. ==Operators==

; • Japan Maritime Self Defense Force ==Specifications (US-1A)==