War Planes of the Second World War 4. - Fighters [antikvár]

I. I . ''i I , , ¦ ¦ ¦ f 1 ,< 1 ¦ I - ' f INTRODUCTION A major enigma in the years immediately preceding the Second World War was the quality of the air forces of Japan and the Soviet Llnion. Both nations were popularly believed to be copyists and regarded qualitatively if not quantitatively as second-class air powers; their aircraft being out-dated by world standards and largely derived from obsolescent European or American designs. Neither the Sino-Japanese conflict nor the Spanish Civil War in which Russian warplanes were employed extensively on behalf of the Republican government presented any evidence to contradict these beliefs. However, the first weeks of the Pacific War revealed all too dramatically how seriously we in the West had underrated the capabilities of Japanese aircraft designers, and while the German assault on the Soviet Union six months previously had not uncovered such startling revelations, the conflict on the Eastern Front soon disclosed the fact that the Soviet aircraft industry could produce competent warplanes ideally suited to the operational conditions existing in Russia. In this volume, the fighters and fighter-bombers of both Japan and the Soviet Union are described and illustrated. For many years )rior to the war, the J.A.A.F. and J.N.A.F. jad been firm adherents of the classic dog-fighting methods of fighter-versus-fighter combat and, thus, considered manoeuvrability to be of paramount importance. The fighters with which Japan entered the war placed emphasis on extreme manoeuvrability; speed, armour protection and fire-power all being subordinated to the Japanese pilot's demand for a standard of manoeuvrability long since foregone in favour of other qualities by western designers. This policy appeared to have been justified during the ear y stages of the Pacific War, but as the Allies began to take the measure of the Japanese fighters the J.A.A.F. and J.N.A.F. demanded greater speed, heavier armament and some protection for the pilot and fuel tanks, these qualities finally taking precedence over extreme manoeuvrability. In consequence, as the war progressed, the Japanese produced some highly sophisticated fighters, comparing favourably with the best produced by the Allies. The Soviet aircraft industry produced less sophisticated fighters than those of the other warring nations, quantity taking precedence over quality. Production was concentrated on a few types of relatively simple design. Short of light alloys, the Russians made extensive use of wood and steel-tube in their fighters, and little attention was given to detail refinement. Without exception, the fighters serving with the Soviet Air Forces were completely orthodox, multi-purpose machines, rugged, dependable and simply equipped, but despite the exigencies of the times, Russian designers did not ignore the development of less orthodox fighters for more specialised roles, although none of these succeeded in attaining service status. While details of most of these experimental Russian fighters are included in the following pages, details of at least three types, the rocket-powered Polikarpov Malyutka and Tikhonravov 302 and the twin-engined Moskalov SAM-13, remain obscure. In conclusion, I should like to record my indebtedness to H. Somberg, B. van der Klaauw, Richard M. Bueschel, Eiichiro Sekigawa, Jacques Marmain, J. S. Orwovski and J. B. Cynk, all of whom have supplied information for inclusion in this volume. London, January 1961 William Green