The wingman in eschelon starboard was also nearly twice as far away from his leader as the wingman in eschelon port, spaced at some 50 and 30 metres respectively. The three aircraft ‘vic’ was, however, a looser and more flexible formation than that of, for example, the RAF and also employed a height stagger between aircraft. In terms of the tactics used in air-to-air combat by fighter pilots of the Japanese army, Japan entered hostilities using a modification of the standard ‘vic’ used by many other nations. This covered the regular units within the IJAAF but more specialized units such as reconnaissance or even some specialist fighter units were organized outside of the normal command structure: Dokuritsu Hiko Chutai were often accountable directly to Brigade, Division or even Air Army level. The Hombu HQ element also covered the fifty or so men who made up the supporting roles such as administration, intelligence, stores, signals and medical staff. The Major commanding the Sentai would often fly with one of the Chutai, but also would on occasion fly with his adjutant and an experienced NCO to form a separate Shotai. The second aircraft in each flight was ideally an experienced NCO whilst the third place would be reserved for a new or inexperienced pilot an interesting point which separated the Japanese system to that of western air forces was that any pilot of sergeant rank or below was still considered to be under tuition.Īside from the organization described above was the Sentai Hombu (本部) the Regimental HQ. Shotai leaders were junior officers such as Lieutenants or Senior NCOs such as Warrant Officers or Staff Sergeants. The Chutai would typically be composed of three or four Shotai, each of three aircraft to give a total strength of 12-15 aircraft. Commanded by a Captain, the Chutai often operated as an independent unit from different locations to other squadrons within the Sentai, in a similar manner to Luftwaffe Gruppen. The next division was the Hiko Chutai the word Chutai (中隊) had its origins as a cavalry term and was roughly equivalent to a squadron. At Sentai level the unit had approximately 320 repair and maintenance personnel which were divided and assigned to the next level of the organization and commanded by an engineering Lieutenant or Captain. The Sentai’s Commanding Officer carried a great deal of authority and could autonomously prescribe his unit’s organization and tactics and even the criteria for confirming victories this led to a lack of standardization in many aspects of the IJAAF and furthermore makes post-war research problematic in some areas.
In western terms, the Sentai was roughly equivalent to an Air Regiment and was normally commanded by a Major. This was derived from Hiko (飛行) meaning ‘air’ or ‘flying’, Sen meaning ‘war’ or ‘battle’ and Tai meaning ‘unit’ or ‘group’. The basic unit was the Hiko Sentai, normally shortened to Sentai (戦隊).
In the late 1930s a period of restructuring saw large changes in the organization of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. Without an independent air force and with a limited budget for military aviation, a great rivalry grew between army and naval aviators in Japan. Put in very basic terms, army aviation existed to support ground forces whilst naval aviation as in place to support the fleet, although operationally there was much more of a cross over between the two roles. Ki-43 of the 248th Sentai, New Guinea, 1944 by Sick2dayĪviation in Japan in the 1930s and 1940s differed from many nations in that Japan did not possess an independent air force like the United States, Japanese military aviation was split between the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF) and the Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force (IJNAF).
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Ki-84 Ko of the 182nd Shimbu Tai, serial 8-1 Sick2day There may be some problems with news display in specific browser versions. Attention! This news was published on the old version of the website.