Japanese Aircraft And Armament

While previous writers have focused primarily on strategic, military, and intelligence factors, Walter Grunden underscores the dramatic scientific and technological disparities that left Japan vunerable and ultimately led to its defeat in World War II.

The most significant types of aircraft operated by the Army and the Navy immediately before and during the Pacific War are described in the two main sections of this book, while a series of appendices provides information on less important Japanese military aircraft, foreign-designed aircraft operated by Japanese forces, aircraft carriers and tenders, aero-engines and aircraft armament.

"Rikugun: Guide to Japanese Ground Forces 1937-1945" is the first nuts-and-bolts handbook to utilize both the voluminous raw allied intelligence documents and postwar Japanese documentation as primary sources. This second volume covers the armament of the ground forces. It takes advantage not only of postwar Japanese research, but also the extensive technical intelligence efforts of the Allies near the end of the war, and the postwar investigations that have heretofore generally been ignored to provide a complete examination of wartime Japanese armament. The book is divided into twenty-three sections covering all categories including not only the standard arms, such as machine guns and coast artillery, but also more esoteric items such as bridging, chemical weapons and assault equipment. Each section provides both production and technical data, as well as a discussion of the unique characteristics of each weapon and its place in the force structure, accompanied by over 300 photographs and numerous data tables.

Although Japan's arms industry is still relatively small, significant political, economic, and technological developments indicate its growing importance and pave the way for Japan's increasing involvement in arms production. In this comprehensive study, Dr. Drifte examines both the domestic and international environments that are encouraging Japan

Illustrated with detailed artworks of Japanese aircraft and their markings, Japanese Aircraft of World War II is a detailed guide to all the aircraft deployed by the Japanese military from the Second Sino-Japanese War to the surrender in the Pacific in August 1945. Organized alphabetically by manufacturer, this book includes every type of aircraft, from fighters to seaplanes, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, torpedo bombers and carrier aircraft. All the best-known types are featured, such as the Mitsubishi G4M 'Betty', Nakajima B6N2 Tenzan, Aichi B7A2 Ryusei torpedo bomber and the world- famous Mitsubishi A6M 'Zero' fighter. The entries are accompanied by exhaustive captions and specifications. The guide is illustrated with profile artworks, three-views, and special cutaway artworks of the more famous aircraft in service, such as the Aichi D3A1 'Val', Mitsubishi A6M2 Reisen, and Nakajima Ki.27 'Nate'. Illustrated with more than 120 artworks, Japanese Aircraft of World War II is an essential reference guide for modellers and enthusiasts with an interest in military aircraft of World War II.

A fascinating insight into how the Allies learned about the capabilities and limitations of the Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force and Japanese Army Air Force through flight testing and evaluation of enemy equipment. In the Pacific War's early years, Japanese air power was dominant. The only way for the Allies to defeat their enemy was to know it. This made the task of maintaining productive intelligence gathering efforts on Japan imperative. Establishing Technical Air Intelligence Units in the Pacific Theatre and the Technical Air Intelligence Center in Washington DC, the Allies were able to begin to reveal the secrets of Japanese air power through extensive flight testing and evaluation of captured enemy aircraft and equipment. These provided an illuminating perspective on Japanese aircraft and aerial weapon design philosophy and manufacturing practice. Fully illustrated throughout with a wealth of previously unpublished photographs, Mark Chambers explores Allied efforts to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Japanese air power during the war years, and how this intelligence helped them achieve victory in the Pacific.

The Imperial Japanese Navy was a pioneer in naval aviation, having commissioned the world's first built-from-the-keel-up carrier, the Hosho. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, it experimented with its carriers, perfecting their design and construction. As a result, by the time Japan entered World War II and attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor in 1941, it possessed a fantastically effective naval aviation force. This book covers the design, development and operation of IJN aircraft carriers built prior to and during World War II. Pearl Harbor, Midway and the first carrier vs carrier battle, the battle of the Coral Sea, are all discussed.