                  [Home] [Up] [Contents] [Search] [Links]



                                 [Japanese]

Japanese Aircraft Designations 1939-1945



by Randy Wilson

Copyright  1997 by Randy Wilson



This document was originally written as an informal guide for AAHM docents.

It has not been otherwise published in print, as of this date.



Like the U.S., Japan's Army and Navy each had their own systems of aircraft

designation, in some cases as many as four or five systems! Because of this

confusion, the Allied forces started assigning code names to each Japanese

type, and it is these code names that are most often remembered now.



We will begin by looking at the Imperial Japanese Navy's (IJN) designation

systems, as our (Confederate Air Force) Zero and Tora aircraft are all IJN

aircraft or replicas.



Japanese Navy Aircraft Designations



At the beginning of World War II, the Japanese Navy Air Force (JNAF) used

three different systems to designate their aircraft: one, the Shi number;

two, a type number system and three, a type/model/manufacturer code (called

the short designation). Later during the war, two new systems were added,

popular names and the Service Airplane Development Program (SADP) system.



Experimental Shi Numbers



Every new design, real or projected, from 1931 onward received an

experimental or Shi number derived from the current year of the Japanese

imperial reign, which for emperor Hirohito began in 1926 and was called

Showa. Added to the Shi number was the purpose of the new design, (i.e.

carrier fighter, carrier bomber, etc.) to differentiate between different

designs. Thus, the Zero was designed to meet a 1937 specification called

the 12-shi carrier fighter, that year being the twelfth year of Showa.



Type and Model Number System



Each type of aircraft entering production for the JNAF after 1920 was given

a type number combined with a brief description of its primary function.

Initially related to Showa dates, in 1929 the type number became the last

two digits of the year in the Japanese calendar year. Thus the Aichi

dive-bomber which entered production in 1939 (2599 in the Japanese system)

was the Type 99 Carrier Bomber. Only a single digit was used when the year

ended in 00, as with the Type 0 Carrier Fighter (thus the name "Zero")

which entered production in 1940 or the Japanese year 2600.



Subtypes and new versions of a type were indicated by model numbers added

after the type. By the late 1930s, model numbers had evolved to two digits

beginning with 11 for the first version, indicating the first airframe

version and the first powerplant configuration. Thus the Type 0 Carrier

Fighter Model 11 was the original production Zero, while the Model 21 was

the next production version, with the addition of folding wing tips (thus

the "2" for airframe modification in 21). The Type 0 Carrier Fighter Model

52 was the Zero after 5 major airframe and 2 engine configurations.



Further modifications to model numbers were indicated by the Japanese

characters Ko, Otsu, Hei, etc. which are normally displayed as lower case

Roman letters "a", "b", "c", etc. (i.e. Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter Model

52c).



Short Designation by Type and Manufacturer



In the late 1920s, the IJN designed an aircraft designation system

remarkably similar to that used by the U.S. Navy from 1922 until 1962. Each

new design was given a "short designation" consisting of a group of Roman

letters and numbers. The first letter (sometimes two) indicated the basic

type or purpose of the aircraft, as indicated in the following table:



                             Basic Type Letters



      Letter(s)                       Basic Type



          A      Carrier Fighter



          B      Carrier Attack Bomber (i.e. Torpedo or Level Bomber)



          C      Reconnaissance



          D      Carrier Bomber (i.e. Dive Bomber)



          E      Reconnaissance Seaplane



          F      Observation Seaplane



          G      Attack Bomber



          H      Flying Boat



          J      Land-based Fighter



          K      Trainer



          L      Transport



          M      Special Floatplane



          MX     Special Purpose Aircraft



          N      Fighter Seaplane



          P      Bomber



          Q      Patrol Plane



          R      Land-based Reconnaissance



          S      Night Fighter



Following the type came a series number indicating the number of major

sub-types produced by that manufacturer. Unlike USN practice, the digit "1"

was not ignored in this system and was included. Thus the designation G4M

designated the fourth attack bomber (G4) designed or produced by Mitsubishi

(M, see below).



The second letter was, as indicated above, the manufacturer's code, and

included some non-Japanese companies, as shown in the table below:



                            Manufacturer's Codes



          Letter(s)                 Manufacturer



                     Aichi (Aichi Tokei Denki and Aichi Kokuki)

              A

                     North American Aviation (US)



              B      Boeing Aircraft (US)



              C      Consolidated Aircraft (US)



              D      Douglas Aircraft (US)



                     Hitachi Kokuki

              G

                     Grumman Aircraft Engineering (US)



                     Hiro (Dai-Juichi Kaigun Koskusho)

              H

                     Hawker Aircraft (UK)



              He     Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke (GER)



                     Nihon Kogata Hikoki

              J

                     Junkers Flugzeug und Moterenwerke (GER)



                     Kawanishi Kokuki

              K

                     Kinner Airplane & Motor (US)



              M      Mitsubishi Jukogyo



              N      Nakajima Hikoki



              P      Nihon Hikoki



              S      Sasebo (Dai-Nijuichi Kaigun Kokusho)



              Si     Showa Hikoki



              V      Vought-Sikorsky (US)



                     Watanabe Tekkosho

              W

                     Kyushu Hikoki



              Y      Yokosuka (Dai-Ichi Kaigun Koku Gijitsusho)



              Z      Mizuno Guraida Seisakusho



The first two letters and the series number remained the same for the

service life of each design, however, minor to moderate changes in the

design (usually reflected in a new Type Model number) were indicated by

adding a second subtype number after the manufacturer's letter. Further

minor changes were indicated by adding letters after the subtype number as

in the Type/Model scheme above.



In a few cases, when the designed role of an aircraft changed, the new use

was indicated by adding a dash and a second type letter to the end of the

existing short designation. Thus the H6K4 was the sixth flying boat (H6)

designed by Kawanishi (K), fourth version of that design (4). When the

plane was equipped primarily as a troop or supply transport, its

designation was then H6K4-L.



Popular Names



In July 1943, official names were given to JNAF aircraft in place of type

numbers. These names were chosen based on the aircraft's primary role as

listed below:



                               Popular Names



       Fighters              Meteorological phenomena



         Carrier Fighters    Wind names ending in pu or fu



         Seaplane Fighters   same as Carrier Fighters



       Interceptor Fighters  Lightning names ending in den



          Night Fighters     Light names ending in ko



       Attack planes         Mountain names



       Bombers               Star (sei) or constellation (zan) names



       Patrol planes         Sea or ocean names



       Reconnaissance planes Cloud names



       Trainers              Tree, plant or flower names



       Transports            Sky names



       Miscellaneous         Named for landscape effects



These popular names were most used on designs which came into service later

in the war, such as the Mitsubishi J2M Raiden (Thunderbolt) and Kawanishi

N1K Shiden (Violet Lightning), both interceptors.



SADP Systems



The Service Airplane Development Program was begun in 1939 as a research

program by the IJN's Bureau of Aeronautics. Each design studied was to be

coded with its manufacturer's letter under the existing short designation

system, plus a two digit number (i.e. 10, 20, 30, etc.). However this

system was not widespread, and few records of SADP designations survived

the war.



Japanese Army Aircraft Designations



The Japanese Army Air Force used two aircraft designation systems, the type

number system and the Kitai number system. In addition, some types had a

popular name.



Type Numbers



From 1927, new Army aircraft were given a type number based on the last

digits of the Japanese year that the type was accepted into service. Up to

the year 2599 (1939 in the West) the last two digits formed the type

number. In 2600 (1940) the number 100 was used, and from 2601 (1941) only

the last digit of the year was used.



Thus, the Army Type 97 Heavy Bomber and Army Type 97 Fighter were both

accepted in 2597 (1937) and can be differentiated by the functional

description attached to each.



New versions of an existing type were indicated by adding a Model number

and letter, i.e. Army Type 3 Fighter Model 2A.



Kitai Numbers



The type number system required rather lengthy descriptive function names

to fully identify an aircraft. The Kitai or Ki number system began in 1932

and assigned a number to each aircraft planned or projected to be built.

Some existing aircraft also were given Ki numbers. At first the numbers

were assigned sequentially but in 1944, new Ki numbers were scrambled, as

if Allied intelligence wasn't confused enough!



New versions of an existing design had Roman numbers (I, II, III, etc.)

added to the Ki number and subvariants had lower case letters (a, b, c,

etc.) as used in some navy systems. And sometimes, the model and variant

numbers and letters were supplanted by a Kaizo (KAI) or modification code!

Let's look at the Kawasaki Hien, with a Kitai number of 61 and Allied code

name TONY, as an example.



The project and prototypes were called Ki-61. The first two production

versions were Ki-61-Ia and Ki-61-Ib. The next two versions carried KAI

modification codes as Ki-61-I KAIc and KAId. Finally, the prototype of a

second model was Ki-61-II and the first production of this new model was

Ki-61-II KAIa. Whew!



Just to tie things up, the last example, the Ki-61-II KAIa was called the

Army Type 3 Fighter Model 2A in the type number system. And a few foreign

designed or built aircraft entered Japanese service, and these were given

an alphabetical type rather than a numeric one, based on either the country

of origin (Type I Heavy Bomber, for the Italian Fiat B.R. 20) or the

manufacturer's name (Type LO Transport for the U.S. Lockheed Model 14).



Popular Names



Even the Japanese Army had problems using their lengthy aircraft

designations in combat, and assigned popular names to many of the major

combat types in service. Unlike the navy, however, the army chose names

without any clear pattern.



Thus the Ki-61 fighter was Hien (Swallow), the Ki-43 fighter was Hayabusa

(Peregrine Falcon) and the Ki-67 bomber was Hiryu (Flying Dragon).



The Allies Answer to Japanese Aircraft Designations



As you can imagine from the above discussion, even when one knows that the

full designation of an aircraft is Aichi D3A1 Navy Type 99 Carrier Bomber

Model 11, you might wish to have a short, simple and unmistakable name,

especially when you are in combat with it!



In the second half of 1942, a colorful set of code names was developed in

the Southwest Pacific Theater by the Air Technical Intelligence Unit (ATIU)

of the Allied Air Forces in Australia. The head of the unit, Captain Frank

T. McCoy Jr. was from Nashville, Tennessee, and the first few code names

were hillbilly names such as ZEKE, NATE, PETE, JAKE and RUFE, as they were

simple, short and distinctive. The basic system spread rapidly, and by late

1942, was adopted for use by both the USAAF and USN. In general, the code

names were assigned using the following system, although several exceptions

exist:



                   Basis of the Allied Code Names Scheme



 Code Name Type                  Assigned to Aircraft Type



 Male names     Fighters (both Army and Navy, single or multi-engined)

                and Reconnaissance seaplanes



                Bombers (including attack and dive-bombers),

 Female names   Reconnaissance planes (land or carrier-based),

                Flying boats and Transports (transport names began with

                "T")



 Tree names     Training aircraft



 Bird names     Gliders



Thus, the example Aichi given above, became simply VAL in the Pacific code

name system. As we learned more about the various models of each type, the

Japanese model number was often attached to the code name, as in ZEKE 32

for the A6M3 Type 0 Carrier Fighter Model 32 "Zero".



Obviously, these code names were much easier to remember and say for Allied

airmen and thus, even today, discussions of the Pacific war are filled with

names such as BETTY, PETE, OSCAR, KATE and TONY.



List of Japanese Army and Navy Aircraft and their Code Names



Aircraft marked with a single asterisk(*) were fictional, and did not

exist. Those with a double asterisk(**) were identified as more than one

type, i.e. they are duplicated in the list. This list is extracted and

edited from Mikesh's Japanese Aircraft Code Names & Designations.



             Japanese Army & Navy Aircraft and their Code Names



 Service        Type Number Desig.            Manuf. & Model     Code Name



 Navy    Type 90 Operations Trainer        Mitsubishi K3M1       PINE



 Navy    Type 90-2 Flying-Boat             Kawanishi H3K1        BELLE



 Army    Type 93-2 Twin-engine Light       Mitsubishi Ki-2-II    LOUISE

         Bomber



 Navy    Type 93 Intermediate Trainer      Kugisho K5Y           WILLOW



 Navy    Type 94 Reconnaissance Seaplane   Kawanishi E7K         ALF



 Army    Type 95-1 Intermediate Trainer    Tachikawa Ki-9        SPRUCE



 Army    Type 95-3 Primary Trainer         Tachikawa Ki-17       CEDAR



 Army    Type 95 Fighter                   Kawasaki Ki-10        PERRY



 Navy    Type 95 Reconnaissance Seaplane   Nakajima E8N1         DAVE



 Navy    Type 96 Carrier Fighter           Mitsubishi A5M        CLAUDE



 Navy    Type 96 Carrier Fighter **        Mitsubishi (See       SANDY

                                           CLAUDE)



 Navy    Type 96 Carrier Attack Bomber     Kugisho B4Yl          JEAN



 Navy    Type 96 Carrier Bomber            Aichi D1A2            SUSIE



 Navy    Type 96 Reconnaissance Seaplane   Aichi E10A1           HANK



 Navy    Type 96 Attack Bomber             Mitsubishi G3M        NELL



 Navy    Type 96 Transport                 Kugisho L3Y           TINA



 Navy    Type 96 Reconnaissance Seaplane   Watanabe E9W          SLIM



 Army    Type 97 Command Reconnaissance    Mitsubishi Ki-15      BABS

         Plane



 Army    Type 97 Heavy Bomber              Mitsubishi Ki-21      SALLY



 Army    Type 97 Heavy Bomber **           Mitsubishi (See       JANE

                                           SALLY)



 Army    Type 97 Fighter                   Nakajima Ki-27        NATE



 Army    Type 97 Fighter **                Nakajima (See NATE)   CLINT



 Army    Type 97 Fighter *                 Mitsubishi            ABDUL



 Army    Type 97 Medium Bomber *           Kawasaki              JULIA



 Army    Type 97 Light Bomber              Mitsubishi Ki-30      ANN



 Army    Type 97 Transport                 Nakajima Ki-34        THORA



         Type 97 Light Bomber *            Mitsubishi            NORMA



 Navy    Type 97-1 and 97-3 Carrier        Nakajima B5N1 & 2     KATE

         Attack Bomber



 Navy    Type 97-2 Carrier Attack Bomber   Mitsubishi B5M1       MABEL



 Navy    Type 97 Flying Boat               Kawanishi H6K         MAVIS



 Navy    Type 97 Transport                 Nakajima L1N1         THORA



 Navy    Type 97 Seaplane Fighter *        Nakajima              ADAM



 Navy    Type 97 Reconnaissance Seaplane   Aichi                 BOB

         *



 Army    Type 98 Light Bomber              Kawasaki Ki-32        MARY



 Army    Type 98 Direct Co-operation       Tachikawa Ki-36       IDA

         Plane



         Type 98 Medium Bomber *           Heinkel He 111        BESS



         Type 98 Showa Light Bomber *      Vultee V-11GB         MILLIE



 Navy    Type 98 Reconnaissance Plane      Mitsubishi C5M        BABS



 Navy    Type 98 Reconnaissance Seaplane   Aichi E11A1           LAURA



 Navy    Type 98 Bomber Float Plane *      Aichi                 IONE



 Army    Type 99 Twin-engine Light Bomber  Kawasaki Ki-48        LILY



 Army    Type 99 Assault Plane/Tactical    Mitsubishi Ki-51      SONIA

         Recon.



 Army    Type 99 Advanced Trainer          Tachikawa Ki-55       IDA



 Navy    Type 99 Carrier Bomber            Aichi D3A             VAL



 Navy    Type 99 S.E. Dive Bomber          Aichi (See JAKE)      JUNE

         Seaplane **



 Navy    Type 99 Flying-Boat               Kugisho H5Y           CHERRY



 Navy    Type 99 Four-engine Flying Boat                         JOAN

         *



 Army    Type 100 Command Reconnaissance   Mitsubishi Ki-46      DINAH

         Plane



 Army    Type 100 Tactical Pilot Trainer   Mitsubishi Ki-46-II   DINAH

                                           KAI



 Army    Type 100 Interceptor Fighter      Mitsubishi Ki-46-III  DINAH

                                           KAI



 Army    Type 100 Heavy Bomber Donryu      Nakajima Ki-49        HELEN



 Army    Type 100 Transport                Mitsubishi Ki-57      TOPSY



 Army    Type 0 Medium Bomber **           Mitsubishi (See       GWEN

                                           SALLY)



 Army    Type 0 Single-seat Twin-engine    Mitsubishi            HARRY

         Fighter *



 Navy    Type 0 Carrier Fighter            Mitsubishi A6M        ZEKE



 Navy    Type 0 Reconnaissance Seaplane    Aichi E13A1           JAKE



 Navy    Type 0 Small Reconnaissance       Kugisho E14Y1         GLEN

         Seaplane



 Navy    Type 0 Observation Seaplane       Mitsubishi F1M1       PETE



 Navy    Type 0 Transport                  Douglas DC-3 L2D2/5   TABBY



 Navy    Type 0 Transport                  Mitsubishi L4M1       TOPSY



 Army    Type 1 Fighter Hayabusa           Nakajima Ki-43        OSCAR



 Army    Type 1 Single-seat Fighter **     Kawasaki (See OSCAR)  JIM



 Army    Type 1 Advanced Trainer           Tachikawa Ki-54a      HICKORY



 Army    Type 1 Operations Trainer         Tachikawa Ki-54b      HICKORY



 Army    Type 1 Transport                  Tachikawa Ki-54c      HICKORY



 Army    Type 1 Freight Transport          Kawasaki Ki-56        THALIA



 Army    Type 1 Transport                  Kokusai Ki-59         THERESA



 Army    Type 1 Light Bomber *             Nakajima (See EVE)    JOYCE



 Navy    Type 1 Attack Bomber              Mitsubishi G4Ml/G4M6  BETTY



 Navy    Type 1 Formation Escort Fighter   Mitsubishi G6M1       BETTY



 Navy    Type 1 Attack Bomber Trainer      Mitsubishi G6Ml-K     BETTY



 Navy    Type 1 Transport                  Mitsubishi G6M1-L2    BETTY



 Navy    Type 1 Target Plane               Kugisho MXY4



 Navy    Type 1 Dive Bomber *              Nakajima (See JUDY)   DOT



 Navy    Type 1 Single-seat Fighter **     Mitsubishi (See ZEKE) RAY



 Army    Type 2 Single-seat Fighter Shoki  Nakajima Ki-44        TOJO



 Army    Type 2 Two-seat Fighter Toryu     Kawasaki Ki-45 KAI    NICK



 Army    Type 2 Advanced Trainer           Manshu Ki-79



 Navy    Type 2 Training Fighter           Mitsubishi A5M4-K



 Navy    Type 2 Fighter Seaplane           Nakajima A6M2-N       RUFE



 Navy    Type 2 Carrier Reconnaissance     Kugisho D4Yl-C        JUDY

         Plane



 Navy    Type 2 High-speed Recon.          Kawanishi El5Kl       NORM

         Seaplane Shiun



 Navy    Type 2 Flying-Boat                Kawanishi H8K         EMILY



 Navy    Type 2 Training Flying-Boat       Aichi H9A1



 Navy    Type 2 Land Based Reconnaissance  Nakajima J1N1-C       IRVING

         Plane



 Navy    Type 2 Gekko (Night Fighter)      Nakajima J1N1-S       IRVING



 Navy    Type 2 Primary Trainer Momiji     Kyushu K9W1           CYPRESS



 Navy    Type 2 Intermediate Trainer       Kyushu K10W1          OAK



 Army    Type 3 Fighter Hien               Kawasaki Ki-61        TONY



 Army    Type 3 Command Liaison Plane      Kokusai Ki-76         STELLA



 Army    Type 4 Heavy Bomber Hiryu         Mitsubishi Ki-67      PEGGY



 Army    Type 4 Special Attack Plane       Mitsubishi Ki-67-I    PEGGY

                                           KAl



 Army    Type 4 Fighter Hayate             Nakajima Ki-84        FRANK



 Army    Type 4 Primary Trainer            Kokusai Ki-86         CYPRESS



 Army    Type 4 Assault Plane (See note)   Kawasaki Ki-102b      RANDY



 Army    Type 4 Special Transport Glider   Kokusai Ku-8          GANDER



 Army    Type 4 Special Transport          Kokusai Ku-8 (GANDER) GOOSE

         Glider**



 Army    Type 5 Fighter                    Kawasaki Ki-100



 Navy    Type D Transport                  Douglas DC-3          TABBY



 Navy    Type He Interceptor Fighter       Heinkel A7He1 (He     JERRY

                                           112B-0)



 Army    Type LO Transport                 Lockheed 14           THELMA



 Army    Type I Heavy Bomber               Fiat B.R.20           RUTH



 Navy    Type S Two-seat Fighter           Seversky A8V1         DICK



Sources and Further Reading



An excellent single source on Japanese Army and Navy aircraft is Rene J.

Francillon's Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, published by Putnam and

others.



Another specific reference is Japanese Aircraft Code Names & Designations

by Robert C. Mikesh, published by Schiffer. This book has some interesting

history behind the development of the Allied code names, as well as a short

discussion of each aircraft, including some rather minor types.



For a humorous and unfortunately typical American view of Japanese military

and naval air power in early 1941, check out the article Japan Is NOT an

Air Power.



[Home] [Up]



All material not specifically credited is Copyright  by Randy Wilson.

E-mail to Randy Wilson: avhistory@rwebs.net

