Dornier Do 217 heavy bomber

It was reported the Japan received two Do 217 aircraft in January 1943, and that by July 1943 the Japanese had purchased the manufacturing licence for the bomber. How­ever, no record exists of any Do 217 being sent to Japan, nor the purchase of the licence, and so the report may have been made in error.

Dornier Do 335 Pfeil fighter bomber

The Pfeil (‘Arrow’) was a twin engine, puller – pusher fighter and one of the fastest piston – engine fighters of World War 2. Although a number of Do 335s of various makes would eventually be built (and ten Do 335A-0 aircraft were used in the field by Erprobungs- kommando 335), the type did not enter ser­vice with the Luftwaffe. Nevertheless, it was believed that the Japanese were provided with a description of the Do 335 in March 1945 but no substantive information was released to them.

Dornier Do 635

long-range reconnaissance aircraft

The Do 635 was basically two Do 335 aircraft mated together by way of a centre wing sec­tion. Conceived in mid-1944, the design of the Do 635 was completed soon afterwards and the RLM ordered four prototypes and six pre – production aircraft. By the close of 1944, the Do 635 was shared with the Japanese who found the design intriguing but outside of their interest. The Japanese made no further moves to obtain the aircraft. Although wind tunnel models were completed and tested and a mock-up of the cockpits were built, the Do 635 was cancelled on 5 February 1945.

Heinkel He 100D-0 fighter

In 1940, Japan paid 2.8 million Reichsmarks for three He 1OOD-O aircraft and the manufac­turing rights. It was planned to produce the Неї OOD-O as the AXHel but the war pre­vented Heinkel from delivering the required jigs and tools and so production was aban­doned. Nevertheless, the Japanese were very impressed with the fighter and the design was a major influence for the successful Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien. Interestingly, Allied intelligence thought that details of a ‘He 113’ were received by Japan in July 1943. The ‘He 113’ was actually the He 100. A propa­ganda ruse using the few He 100s built tried to make it appear that the type was in German service and this succeeded in fooling Allied intelligence who used the ‘He 113’ designa­tion in their reports.