Japan’s Air Strength CRITICAL SURVEY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 19 May 1941, Page 2

Japan’s Air Strength CRITICAL SURVEY

' A rigid censorship has long surrounded military and civil flying in i' Japan. Those who assess the strength and efficiency of the Japanese military and naval air arms and the worth of Japan's air transport lines miigt gather their information in small fragments, and put it together hit by bit if they are to form reliable opinions and pre l pare a useful survey. Lack of originality in types and general design is shown in Japanese aeroplanes. many of which bear a strong resemblance to well-known European h and American tyi>es. So strong is the resemblance that the system of copying is tacitly declared, and is only alleviated slightly by the system of building established types under licence from the designing firms, says the “Aeroplane.” I There is no doubt that Japan stands i lowest in air power on the list of the Great Powers. She has no more than 3000 aeroplanes of all kinds, military, naval, trainers and transports. Army Air Force : Of the two services, the Army has the stronger air force. It is made up ! of three operational Air Corps. One 1 consists of a regiment of lighters, another of reconnaissance machines and i a third of bombers. The second corps comprises three air regiments with the Japanese army in China, and the third consists of six air regiments and several independent squadrons with the army in Manchuria. Bomber and fighter squadrons normally consist of 10 machines, reconnaissance squadrons of nine. The composition of an air regiment may be two, three, four or five squadrons. Alto- ; getber there appear to be about 110 ! squadrons in the army air force, and i of these from 35 to 40 are fighter squadrons and the others light and heavy bombers and reconnaissance squadrons. The “Aeroplane” says the report that the Army air force has 1000 fighters is exaggerated. Naval Air Strength About 30 coastal units, seven air-craft-carriers, five seaplane-carriers, and an uncertain number of naval vessels with catapults are controlled by the Japanese Admiralty, j The aircraft-carriers are not highly j rated by one German authority. The j last to be put into commission hats a I top speed of only 30 knots, and the earlier ships are slower. None carries more than 00 aeroplanes. Two of i them, the Kaga and Akagi, could be . enlarged by an extension of their flight decks. Three more aircraft-carriers are under construction, but they will not be finished before 1043. The present number of ship-borne aeroplanes is thought to 'be about 330. In September, 1939, the total personnel of both the military aud the naval air nrm was approximately 33,000. of which 3.000 were army pilots and about 3100 navy pilots. Each branch has, roughly, equal numbers of officer and X.C.O. pilots. 1 The Army maintains six flying schools and the Navy one. Their total ; output does not exceed 700 pilots a year; the standard of efficiency is not j high and is certainly below that of all the bigger nations, with ihe possible exception of Russia. Japanese Types Japan has kept the performance oilier military and naval aeroplanes a close secret, but she has claimed that recent new types from her factories are superior to any possessed by her potential enemies. Her other types follow the Western fashions, though somewhat tardily, and have the performance of European designs' of 1032 and thereabouts. Some were bought abroad, chiefly from Italy. New types are known by serial numbers. The method of serializing is «imple in the extreme. Aeroplanes produced in 1035 are known as Type 95; those in 1936 as Type 00; those in 1937 as Type 97, and so on. l’he newest types compare favourably with European practice in 1934-35. There is a four-motor bomber (Type 96) with a speed of 260 m.p.h. and a range of 2200 miles, with a small bomb load. The biggest bomb load it can carry is about 30001 b. One machine of Type 97 is a fighter with a top speed of nearly 300 m.p.h. Another of Type 98 is the Fiat 8.R.20M two-motor bomber built under licence from Italy. Other standard military machines are « Navy monoplane fighter in Type 96, rather like the Boeing; an Army reconnaissance biplane in Type 94; anI other in Type 96 is a single-motor Navy bomber for service in aircraft-carriers. A third is a twin-motor coastal reconnaissance and bomber monoplane. There are also a two-motor heavy bomber which looks like a small edition of the U.S. “Flying Fortress,” and the Type 95-1. a standard Army biplane trainer. Japanese military aeroplanes do not stand up well to hard use on active service. Independent observers have stated that one-third of all the Japanese aeroplanes operating in China are worn out within a year, and at least a quarter of those in Japan itself have to be replaced every year. These estimates take no account of losses by enemy action and accident. Industry’s Handicap The aircraft industry labours under three handicaps. It lacks essential raw materials despite its priority claim on supplies; it lacks skilled workmen, and it lacks modern machinery. The need of modern machine tools is par- , ticularly acute among the smaller subcontracting firms. In consequence, : Japan still depends-upon imported ma- ; terials and machinery to a great ex- ; tent. Estimates of the output of the Japanese aircraft firms differ greatly. , Those best placed to gauge it give between 1500 and 2500 machines as the rearly output of the 40 or more plants. ■ Dr. Wagenfuehr, the official German aircraft statistician, does not think ; that Japan’s aeronautical production j is big enough to cope with her needs . in a major war—even against the Far ( i Eastern air force of the Soviet Union. , !in this case she would have to Import ( i large proportion of the military air- j I craft required. If Japan’s aircraft industry could obtain regularly all the essential raw j materials her maximum output would . be in the neighbourhood of 2500 aircraft of all types a year. Reliable in- ( formation suggests that the 1938-30 ( output amounted to little more than { 1000. , Aeronautical research is still unde- , reloped, notwithstanding efforts by the c r Government and the many scientific j bodies to bring it to a more advanced state. . Japanese aviation has, therefore, a long way to go before it will lie able to J compete successfully with, or even combat. the “decadent European and American democracies.” In order to * achieve this aim more quickly, Japan ‘ has asked her Axis partners for as- • sistance, and they have sent, a number - of aeronautical experts to the Far East, ‘