COMPARATIVE VALUE OF TARGETS
|
REQUIREMENTS FOR AIR ASCENDANCY Tab B Japanese Theatre - Appendix J-I Aircraft and Engines |
|
OCR'ers NOTE: The Table below was reconstructed using percentages and guesses, due to badly degraded copy being the only source (LINK to Original Table) |
|||||
|
No. |
Name and Location |
[illegible] |
Percent Japan Total |
[illegible] |
Japan Total |
|
1. |
Kawasaki Aircraft (Kobe) |
1,500 |
14.4 |
4,400 |
25.5 |
|
2. |
Kawasaki Dockyard (Kobe) |
||||
|
3. |
Mitsubishi – Minami Ku (Nagoya) |
1,685 |
16.2 |
2,170 |
12.6 |
|
4. |
Mitsubishi – Higashi Ku (Nagoya) |
||||
|
5. |
Nakajima – Musashino (Tokyo) |
– |
– |
3,600 |
20.8 |
|
6. |
Nakajima – Ogikubo (Tokyo) |
||||
|
7. |
Mitsubishi – Oimachi (Tokyo) |
600 |
5.7 |
1,200 |
6.9 |
|
8. |
Kawanashi (Kobe) |
600 |
5.7 |
900 |
5.2 |
|
9. |
Nakajima (Ota) |
1,750 |
16.8 |
– |
– |
|
10. |
Mitsubishi – Shiba (Tokyo) |
600 |
5.7 |
600 |
3.5 |
|
11. |
Aichi Tokei – Minami Ku (Nagoya) |
340 |
3.3 |
620 |
3.6 |
|
12. |
Aichi Tokei – Higashi Ku (Nagoya) |
||||
|
13. |
Kawasaki (Kagamigahara) |
600 |
5.7 |
– |
– |
|
14. |
Atsuta Ordnance Arsenal (Nagoya) |
500 |
4.8 |
– |
– |
|
Total Above |
8,175 |
78.3 |
13,490 |
78.1 |
|
|
All Others |
2,270 |
21.7 |
3,790 |
21.9 |
|
|
Total All |
10,445 |
100.0 |
17,280 |
100.0 |
|
|
SUMMARY: In establishing the foregoing priorities, principal weight has been given to engine production. Reliable sources indicate a minimum of 600 factories in Japan producing aircraft, engines and/or parts. In addition, plants at Mukden (Manchukuo) and Heijo (Korea) should be considered as important contributors. On this basis, total Japanese plane production is roughly estimated at about 10,000, with engines at 17,000. Making the reasonable assumption that the aircraft industry is given top priority in the matter of skilled labor and raw materials, plane output could run to 12,000-15,000 per annum. Destruction of the indicated targets would eliminate 78.3% of Japan’s plane and 78.1% of her engine production. As indicated elsewhere in this report, the vulnerability of Japan’s aluminium industry by reason of the concentration of alumina production (10 targets) constitutes a principal key to the destruction of her aircraft industry. |
|||||
1. DESCRIPTION OF TARGETS
An aircraft assembly plant usually comprises several buildings fairly widely dispersed around a factory airfield. In Japan, however, pursuit planes, bombers, and aircraft engines are usually all three manufactured in different portions of the same plant. The aircraft engine manufacturing portion usually comprises an ordinary engineering works with foundry, pressing shop, machine shop, etc. The layout of this complex of plants varies so considerably that it is not possible to give any average figure for size.
2. NUMBER OF DIRECT HITS AND TYPES OF BOMBS REQUIRED
It is considered that at least six (6) direct hits with 300 lb. bombs are required on each of the main buildings in order to cause effective destruction. The number of aiming points has been worked out according to the total size of the plants.
3. NUMBER OF SORTIES AND BOMBER FORCE REQUIRED
Based upon detailed calculations taking into account all operational factors involved in making attacks against highly defended targets with appropriate allowances for probabilities, aiming errors, losses, etc., etc., allowing for the fact that in the aircraft assembly portions of the plant, repeat attacks will be required, it appears that it will be required to have a total number of:-
4,800 SORTIES
In order to carry out these sorties in sixty (60) operational days, a force of:-
10 - B-29's and
66 - B 17e’s
must be set up.