Editing Imperial Japanese Equipment (section)

== Airplanes ==
Contrary to American propaganda, poorly made history documentaries, or just outright misunderstanding Japanese air doctrine, Japanese aviation was pretty much some of the finest on earth at the time. See, when your empire is built upon island chains, naval and air supremacy kinda become very important. As a result Japanese aircraft, while very poorly armoured (especially by American standards) and not quite as heavily armed compared to the allies, were nevertheless actually very well built, just in a very different way. In gamer's terms (since we are on /tg/), the Japanese airplanes were heavily [[min-max]]xed for their intended role, relying on superior training and coordination between different types to get maximal efficiency out of the whole lot. This went swimmingly for them early in the war...but ended up in catastrophe after both attrition and lack of resources took their toll on both the quality of aircrew and machines alike.

Another quirk of Japanese military aviation had to do with internal bickering between the Navy and Army. The United States had a similar problem, but lessened the problem by delegating some roles to Navy, some to Army, with the rest of these problems being solved by not being a military dictatorship. For Japan meanwhile. . .well you could write an entire essay on the Imperial Japanese army and navy but the short answer is: They HATED each other and not only could not work together they sometimes undermined each other; for example with the navy not telling the army about how bad Midway was, screwing up the army plans in thinking there team had more carriers. The rivalry was so bad that when the military dictatorship was established the factions were essentially Army and Navy, and it wasn't uncommon for officers to murder each other and soldiers and sailors to get into knife fights before the war. In short, there was no Imperial Japanese Air Force, both the Navy and the Army kept their own air-wings and mostly they each had their own models of planes.

Also quick note about the "Kamikaze" or 'special attack force' strikes. The reason those strikes were even considered is that by the time, 1944. . . [[Grim and dark|attacking a US naval task by air was already suicide.]] The sheer amount of Dakka that a US task group could out put was overpowering. By one count a single ship could launch over a thousand pounds of bullets into the air, per minute, and that doesn't even consider the introduction of proximate fuses. So if your going to die either way, may as well go for a one way trip as it increases your odds of ''something'' getting through.
===Fighters===
* '''Mitsubishi A5M "Claude"''': The less iconic, but still just as important naval aviation fighter designed by the same man who would develop the Zero: Jiro Horikoshi. Claudes were exclusively Navy aircraft that far excelled navy expectations, and helped end biplanes in IJN aviation service on Aircraft carriers. Early armament was two humble mgs, but variants after the A5M1a incorporated two 20mm Oerlikon cannons. Claudes were largely replaced by the Zero by the time the war broke out, but some were used in Kamikaze attacks in the latter part of the war. The design was so good that the IJA took a break from the dick slapping contest they had with the Navy to consider it, though they felt the maneuverability was lacking. Japanese aviators disliked closed cockpit designs on the A5M because they hindered visibility, so for the most part the aircraft were open topped, with all the positives and negatives that implied.  
* '''Mitsubishi A6M "Zero"''': The Zero was the iconic aircraft of the war for Japan and served in every theatre, though it was first and foremost a Navy Fighter. It was designed so that a well trained pilot could fully utilize the aircraft and outmatch most anything in the world at the time. It was even good enough that the basic airframe (made from high-end alumuminum alloys and with revolutionary structures such as smoothed rivets) could be recycled for carrier use with minor modifications. This did have the downside of sometimes removing radios for increased range or due to them just not working, and by late war America and Britain started topping them with better armored and easier to fly designs. However, bear in mind that the Zero could achieve ranges of 1,870 km and was still able to accept upgrades until the end of the war, a feat not shared by every fighter.
* '''Kawasaki Ki-61 "Tony"''': When it was clear the Allies would not meekly stand down but come back to reclaim the ground Japan seized, the IJA requested a air superiorit fighter to protect their gains. Entered the "Tony", a radically different design from the other Japanese airplanes (so different, in fact, it was first believed to be an Italian airplane, hence, "Tony"). A decent albeit finicky design, its main achievement was to get the Americans to <s>shit their bricks</s> reconsider their approach, retire their [[P40 Warhawk|P-40's]] and replace them with [[P38 Lightning|P-38's]]. Ultimately, a larger industrial base and better logistics won out, and the "Tony" was grinded away or bombed into oblivion.   
* '''Nakajima Ki-84 "Frank"''': An Army Fighter that was put into service in 1944, designed specially to defend the homeland. Performance-wise, it was competitive with to superior to any other piston plane of the late war with its great blend of high speed, good maniability and hard-hitting armament. A solid design that nevertheless suffered from a tricky to nurse engine and finicky landing gear; problems that were compounded by lack of training for the pilots and materials shortages from the American bombing campaign.
** '''Mitsubishi J2M "Jack"''': In a sense the Frank's 'little brother': a competitor design, decent but overall not as good. It was put into production alongside the "Frank" anyway since it used a different engine and few of the same resources; and the Japanese concluded that more airframes to try and intercept those pesky B-25's and B-29's simply couldn't hurt. No turbocharger on the engine meant it struggled to reach the bomber's operational altitude in time, but its quartet of hard-hitting 20mm cannons made it a dangerous opponent when it managed to properly intercept.
* '''Kyushu J7W Shinden''': A high speed (750kph) short range prototype interceptor made in the last days of the war. Notably it had a pusher prop in the back and four 30mm cannons in the nose. Designed for the express purpose of ruining the day of those pesky American B-29's bombing the everloving shit out of Japan, but never saw more than a couple of test flights.
* '''Nakajima Kikka''': A prototype Jet Fighter built by the IJN, similar in general shape to the ME 262 (albeit slimmer and lankier) with ten of them being built. It first flew on August 7th 1945, just after the American Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and eight days before Emperor Hirohito surrendered. Here more as credit to Japanese Engineers than anything.

===Bombers===
*'''Nakajima B5N "Kate"''': A torpedo and tactical bomber used by the navy and army starting in 1937. The B5N was one of the more advanced designs in the world at the time and was responsible for the sinking of Lexington and Hornet, and contributed to the sinking of the Yorktown. Possessing an impressive range of 1992 kilometers, a decent top speed of over 300kph and carrying an advanced long range torpedo they were able to launch from a further distance than equivalent weapons from other nations (or alternatively three 250kg bombs); they were a force to be reckoned with early into the war. But by 1943 fighter superiority was being steadily eroded from Japan, so the lack of defensive armament and armor started to bite the Japanese hard in the butt and even an improved version called the B6N "Jill" made to keep the design relevant couldn't invert the tendency. 
*'''Mitsubishi G4M "Betty"''': A Bomber commissioned by the navy that could launch torpedoes as well, filling a similar role to the American B-25. Absolutely absurd, these vehicles had 3700km range at the expense of armament, bomb bay doors, and self-sealing fuel tanks in order to maximize range. The theory was that the Zeros would cover them so that being shot down wouldn't be a problem, but the harsh reality is that if anything with more than four light mgs (or anything heavier like Ma Deuces or 20mm cannons) shot at it, they tended to explode into flame, much earning them the nickname "the Honorable One-Shot Lighter" among allied pilots. Later variants added improved protection and armament at the expense of range, something Japan was not worried about in the latter part of the war. There was even a limited production run that was used to ferry Ohka flying bombs to launch positions, but these sucked ass. Yamamoto infamously was shot down in one of these by USAAF [[P38 Lightning|P-38 fighters]], and you can still visit the wreckage in the jungle to this very day.