Japanese Aircraft
|
The code name system for
Japanese aircraft used by U.S. forces originated in the Southwest Pacific in
1942 when Army intelligence officer Captain Frank T. McCoy headed a team
assigned to identify and classify Japanese aircraft. Captain McCoy, a
native of Tennessee, initially assigned down home names such as ZEKE, RUFE,
NATE, and JAKE to Japanese aircraft. Seventy-five code names were assigned
during the first month and soon these names were in wide use throughout the
entire Pacific. In 1944, a joint Army-Navy Air Technical Center in
Washington took over responsibility for assigning the names. The code names
were then allotted according to the following system: male first names for
fighters and reconnaissance seaplanes; female first names for bombers,
attack bombers, dive bombers, reconnaissance aircraft and flying boats;
names beginning with letter T for transports; tree names for trainers; and
bird names for gliders.
|
Japanese Aircraft Image Gallery (Click on image to see
enlarged version.)
|
| |
Mitsubishi A6M3 Navy carrier-based fighter Nakajima B6N Tenzan (Heavenly Mountain) torpedo bomber Yokosuka D4Y Suisei (Comet) Mitsubishi F1M reconnaissance floatplane Mitsubishi Ki-51 Type 99; assault aircraft used primarily in the China-Burma-India theater, but later adapted for suicide use Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force
Mitsubishi A6M3 Navy carrier-based fighter
|
| |
|
