Image: Kugisho MXY7 Ohka Model 22 Aircraft

Description: Near the end of World War II, Vice Admiral Onishi Takijino recommended that the Japanese navy form special groups of men and aircraft to attack American warships in the Philippines. The Japanese used the word Tokko (Special Attack) to describe these units, known to the Allies as the kamikaze. Some 5,000 pilots died making Tokko attacks. The Ohka (Cherry Blossom) Model 22 was designed to allow a pilot with minimal training to drop from a Japanese navy bomber at high altitude and guide his aircraft with its warhead at high speed into an Allied warship. Plans were afoot in 1944 to adapt a Yokosuka Pl Y Ginga to carry the Model 22. While several rocket-powered Ohka 11s still exist, this Ohka 22 is the only surviving version powered by a motor-jet, a reciprocating engine that pressurized a combustion chamber into which fuel was injected and ignited. Unlike the Ohka 11, the Ohka 22 never became operational. Picture taken at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, USA
Title: Kugisho MXY7 Ohka Model 22 Aircraft
Credit: Own work
Author: Sanjay Acharya
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Attribution Required?: Yes