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The Mitsubishi J2M Raiden (雷電, "Lightning Bolt") is a single-engined land-based fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War II. The Allied reporting name was "Jack".

J2M Raiden
Profile view of a Mitsubishi J2M Raiden
Role Fighter aircraft
Manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
First flight 20 March 1942
Introduction December 1942
Retired August 1945
Primary user Imperial Japanese Navy
Number built 621

Design and development


The J2M was designed by Jiro Horikoshi, creator of the A6M Zero, to meet the 14-Shi (14th year of the Showa reign, or 1939) official specification. It was to be a strictly local-defense interceptor, intended to counter the threat of high-altitude bomber raids, and thus relied on speed, climb performance, and armament at the expense of manoeuvrability. The J2M was a sleek, but stubby craft with its oversized Mitsubishi Kasei engine buried behind a long cowling, cooled by an intake fan and connected to the propeller with an extension shaft.

Teething development problems stemming from the Kasei engine cooling system, and the main undercarriage members led to a slowdown in production.[1] A continual set of modifications resulted in new variants being introduced with the ultimate high-altitude variant, the J2M4 Model 34 flying for the first time in August 1944. It had a 1,420 hp Kasei 23c engine equipped with a turbocharger (mounted in the side of the fuselage just behind the engine) that allowed the rated power to be maintained up to 9,100 m (29,900 ft). Two upward-aimed, oblique-firing (aimed at seventy degrees) 20 mm cannons, mounted in the German Schräge Musik style, were fitted behind the cockpit with the four wing cannons retained. Unresolved difficulties with the turbo supercharger caused the project to be terminated after only two experimental J2M4s were built.


Operational history


Two J2Ms of the 381 Kōkūtai in British Malaya being tested and evaluated by Japanese naval aviators under close supervision of RAF officers from Seletar Airfield in December 1945.
Two J2Ms of the 381 Kōkūtai in British Malaya being tested and evaluated by Japanese naval aviators under close supervision of RAF officers from Seletar Airfield in December 1945.

The first few produced J2M2s were delivered to the development units in December 1942 but severe problems were encountered with the engines. Trials and improvements took almost a year and the first batch of the serial built J2M2 Model 11 was delivered to 381st Kōkūtai in December 1943. Parallel with the J2M2, production of the J2M3 Raiden Model 21 started. The first J2M3s appeared in October 1943 but deliveries to combat units started at the beginning of February 1944.

The Raiden made its combat debut in June 1944 during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Several J2Ms operated from Guam and Saipan and a small number of aircraft were deployed to the Philippines. Later, some J2Ms were based in Japanese airfields in Korea under Genzan Ku: Genzan (Wonsan); Ranan (Nanam); Funei (Nuren); Rashin (Najin); and Konan, for defense of these areas and fighting against Soviet Naval Aviation units.

Primarily designed to defend against the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the type was handicapped at high altitude by the lack of a turbocharger. However, its four-cannon armament supplied effective firepower and the use of dive and zoom tactics allowed it to score occasionally.

Insufficient numbers and the American switch to night bombing in March 1945 limited its effectiveness.

J2Ms took part in one of the final aerial combats of the Second World War when four Raidens, accompanied by eight Mitsubishi A6M Zeros, all belonging to the 302nd Kokutai, intercepted a formation of US Navy F6F Hellcats from the aircraft-carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10) during the morning of 15 August 1945 over the Kanto Plain. In the engagement, that took place only two hours before Japan officially announced its surrender, four Hellcats were lost along with two Raidens and two Zeros.[2]

U.S. Technical Air Intelligence Command (TAIC) tested two captured J2Ms using 92 octane fuel plus methanol and calculated maximum speeds using measurements. The J2M2 (Jack11) achieved a speed of 655 km/h (407 mph) at 5,520 m (17,400 ft),[3] and the J2M3 (Jack21) achieved a speed of 671 km/h (417 mph) at 4,980 m (16,600 ft).[3]


Variants



Production


After the decisive Battle of Midway in 1942 Japan's military leaders rushed to re-equip their forces for defense of the home islands. In fighter designs the interceptor role now took priority over forward projection of offensive power. Allied forces, meanwhile, sought to establish air superiority over Japanese-held territories via B-29 bombing raids on industrial targets.

The struggle to meet production demands sparked a Japanese initiative to recruit shonenko (child labour) from Taiwan (Formosa). Though the target of 25,000 youths was never reached, over 8,400 Taiwanese youths aged 12 to 14 relocated to Mitsubishi plants to help build the J2M Raiden.[5][6][7]

The Allied advance took its toll. In 1945 aircraft production in Japan collapsed, as numbers for the J2M reflect.

J2M Production: Nagoya, Mitsubishi Jukogyo K.K. [8]
Year
Jan.Feb.Mar.Apr.MayJuneJulyAug.Sept.Oct.Nov.Dec.Annual
1942 111221111213
1943 00120034516212290
1944 1726922394434221620187274
1945 1712291608727116
Total 493
J2M Production: Kanagawa, Kōza K.K. [10]
Year
Jan.Feb.Mar.Apr.MayJuneJulyAug.Sept.Oct.Nov.Dec.Annual
1944 1001234617
1945 13823151020220111
Total 128

Operators


 Japan

Surviving aircraft


J2M3 Model 21 c/n 3014 is on display at the Planes of Fame museum in Chino, California.[12]


Specifications (J2M3)


3-view silhouette of the Mitsubishi J2M
3-view silhouette of the Mitsubishi J2M

Data from Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War,[13] Mitsubishi J2M3-21 Raiden[3]

General characteristics

1,174 kW (1,575 hp) at 1,800 m (5,906 ft)
1,051 kW (1,410 hp) at 4,800 m (15,748 ft)

Performance

Armament

or

See also


Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists


Notes


  1. Air Enthusiast, 1971. p 68
  2. Izawa, Yasuho & Holmes, Tony. J2M Raiden and N1K1/2 Shiden/Shiden-Kai Aces. Bloomsbury Publishing. 2016. p-46.
  3. "(TAIC) Manual." U.S. Technical Air Intelligence Command, May 1945.
  4. Francillon 1979, pp. 394–395.
  5. http://therunagatesclub.blogspot.tw/2008/06/shonenko-taiwanese-boys-who-built.html 'Shonenko': Kuo's documentary about Taiwanese boys who built Mitsubishi aircraft as Japan's defences crumbled
  6. http://ipixels.net/twff/shonenko-En.html 'Shonenko' at the Taiwan Film Festival
  7. http://www.quietsummer.com/Emeraldhorizon/SBackgroundE.html 'Shonenko' (2006) - a documentary film by Liang-Yin Kuo
  8. USSBS, Appendix G., p. 61–64
  9. USSBS, 1947. p. 18-26
  10. USSBS, Appendix B., p. 6
  11. USSBS, 1947. p. 44
  12. "Flying & Static Aircraft". Planes of Fame Air Museum. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  13. Francillon 1979, pp. 388–396
  14. The Type 99 Mark 1 and Mark 2 machine guns were not classed as cannon in the Japanese armed services

Bibliography





На других языках


[de] Mitsubishi J2M

Die Mitsubishi J2M Raiden (dt.: Donnerschlag, alliierter Codename: Jack) war ein Abfangjäger des japanischen Herstellers Mitsubishi, der während des Zweiten Weltkriegs von den Kaiserlich Japanischen Marineluftstreitkräften eingesetzt wurde.
- [en] Mitsubishi J2M

[fr] Mitsubishi J2M

Le Mitsubishi J2M Raiden 'Jack' était un avion de chasse, intercepteur pur, basé à terre et exclusivement utilisé par la Marine impériale japonaise pendant la dernière partie de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale.

[it] Mitsubishi J2M

Il Mitsubishi J2M Raiden (雷電 fulmine?) così indicato in base alle convenzioni allora vigenti, al quale venne assegnato dagli Alleati il nome in codice Jack[2] fu un aereo da caccia monomotore monoplano ad ala bassa sviluppato dall'azienda aeronautica giapponese Mitsubishi Jūkōgyō nei primi anni quaranta.

[ru] Mitsubishi J2M Raiden

Береговой перехватчик Гром (Райдэн) ВМС Императорской Японии (яп. 局地戦闘機「雷電」/三菱J2M Кёкутисэнтоки Райдэн/Мицубиси Дзэй-Ни-Эму)[1] — одноместный цельнометаллический истребитель-перехватчик берегового базирования на вооружении ВМС Императорской Японии. Разработан в авиационном КБ Мицубиси в 1940—1942 гг., строился малой серией до конца войны. Условное обозначение ВВС союзников Джек (Jack)



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