Bachem Ba349 Natter rocket interceptor

The Natter (meaning ‘Viper’ in German) was a rocket powered point defence interceptor – in essence, a manned rocket launched verti­cally towards enemy bombers where it would use its high speed to avoid enemy fighters and launch a salvo of either 73mm Hs217 Fohn or 55mm R4M rockets at the attacking bombers. The pilot would then eject from the Ba 349 and return to earth via parachute along with the engine portion of the aircraft. The Ba 349 required little in terms of critical war materials and could be con­structed by semi-skilled workers. Several unmanned test flights were flown but the only recorded manned flight ended in the death of the pilot. Despite a handful being deployed, none saw action. Allied intelligence surmised that the Japanese were provided with infor­mation on the Ba 349 and they were correct. The RLM ordered Erich Bachem to give the Japanese a complete set of plans for the Ba349. However, the submarine carrying the data was lost at sea. When this transfer occurred is unknown but it would likely have been late in the war.

Blohm und Voss Ha 142 heavy bomber

The Ha 142 (later the BV142) was the land version of the Ha 139 float plane. Unlike the successful Ha 139, the Ha 142 was, ultimately, a failure when converted from a transport to a reconnaissance bomber aircraft in 1940. Despite this, the Blohm und Voss P.48 project was listed as a bomber version of the Ha 142 for Japan. Most likely, this remained a paper concept with no further action being taken as only four BV142 aircraft were built before the type was withdrawn from service in 1942.

Bticker Bii 131 Jungmann trainer

In August 1942, the Japanese obtained the licence to produce the Jungmann trainer (meaning ‘Young Man’ in German). The Bii 131 had been demonstrated to the Japan­ese in 1938 and a total of 22 aircraft were pur­chased from 1938 to 1939. The Japanese attempted to make their own version of the Bii 131 but the results paled in comparison to the German aircraft and this resulted in the 1942 acquisition of production rights. The Bii 131 was produced for the IJA as the Koku – sai Ki-86a and for the UN as the Kyushu K9W1 Momiji (meaning ‘Maple’). One all-wood Ki-86b was completed in February 1945 but remained a prototype. All told, 339 K9W1 and 1,037 Ki-86a aircraft were built from 1942 through 1945. The Allies codenamed both air­craft Cypress.