Aichi D3A (Val)

History

At the start of the Pacific War, the D3A series aircraft (known as "Val" by the Allies) were considered nearly extinct. When the D3A became the primary attacking air force in this attack, the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii - home to the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet - had a sudden awakening.

While very much in keeping with the image of a bygone aviation era, with fixed landing gear housed in a painted hull, the D3A was effectively used as a carrier bomber and dive bomber by the Imperial Japanese Navy in early World War II.

Aichi Prefecture (along with Nakajima and Mitsubishi) submitted their monoplane design to the Japanese Navy Specification of 1936 (11-Shi) for carrier-based dive bombers to replace the aging D1A biplane series. Only applications submitted by Aichi and Nakajima were pushed, requesting a fully functional prototype for further development.

The first prototype was completed in December 1937 and flew for the first time in 1938 with a Nakajima Hikari 710 hp engine. Despite poor performance, a second improved prototype was produced to address stability, strength and performance issues. The second prototype hit the mark and was selected for production instead of the Nakajima model.

This new version of the Aichi, now dubbed the D3A1, will feature an improved wider-span wing, improved dive brakes, a 1,000-horsepower Mitsubishi Venus 43 radial piston engine in a redesigned fairing, and an extended dorsal fin to Improve mobility.

Standard armament on production models is various 3 x 7.7mm machine guns. Two Type 97 light machine guns were mounted for forward firing and controlled by the pilot, while one Type 92 heavy machine gun was mounted on a flexible bracket in the rear cockpit.

As a dive bomber, the Aichi D3A can carry a 550lb bomb under the fuselage or 2 x 130lb bombs under each wing.

Early "Vals" conducted limited land-based operations in the Indochina theater, although they would remain in line with the Imperial Japanese Navy's carrier counterparts for the remainder of the war. In fact, the D3A destroyed more Allied ships during the war than any other Axis aircraft - that's the range of this "obsolete" aircraft.

The D3A served on the front lines until the Battle of the Coral Sea, which was disastrous for the type - effectively signaling the end of the aircraft's usefulness. As a result, Valls was systematically excluded from many front-line operations, as by 1944 the D3A was completely overtaken by the large number of American fighters that appeared throughout the theater.

As a result, many of the Vars ended up as dual-control, two-seater trainers, while some were used in kamikaze raids, the latter of which were concentrated in and around the Wright and Okinawa regions during the last year of the war.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes