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Yokosuka MXY7 «Ohka».
This is, if one could say so, Japanese variant of the German “retribution weapon”. Although it was designed not for frightening the enemy and ruining its military potential, but for dealing with American ships, any other way of fighting which proved ineffective. Both traditional inclination for self-sacrifice and the military situation by the end of the war, when traditional air forces were almost entirely destroyed, and the army was in urgent need of experienced pilots, contributed to the creation of such a weapon. Using traditional aircraft for kamikaze attacks showed their high efficiency, so the decision was made to build a special gliding bomb.
Already in August 1944 ten ÌÕY7 were ready. They got the name “Special Marine Assault Aircraft Oka model 11”. The first examples carried 1200 kg of explosives. G4M2e bombers with specially designed bomb hold were used as carriers. “Ohka” must have been thrown at 80 km distance to target, glide until reaching the AA defense zone, then begin diving and engage the rocket engines. As a result, diving speed could reach 800 (according to some sources, even 900) km/h, which practically eliminated the chance of intercepting/shooting them down.
“Ohka’s” first success was damaging the “West Virginia” and three transport ships, while the first American ship was destroyed near Okinawa on April 12, 1945. It was the “Mannert L’Abel” destroyer. Americans developed countermeasures, using destroyers as a radar patrol, and moving the guard fighters’ patrolling zones further from the ships. As a result, it were destroyers who took kamikaze’s first strikes.
But at this cost the “Ohka” threat was neutralized, as carriers could not fly close enough to target without being shot by American fighters. The attempts to equip the gliding bomb with an engine were too late. Only 50 “model 22” with a combined compressor jet power plant, using a 4-cylinder piston engine for powering the compressor, were built. And even these bombs did not fly – they were sunk together with the super aircraft carrier “Shinano”.
MXY7 «Ohka» in the "Pacific Storm"
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