History

The Yolosuka MXY7 Ohka (Cherry Blossom) was a suicide anti-shipping bomb used by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the final months of World War II. Due to their very short range they were not very successful in operations.

Development of this powered suicide bomb began in 1944 to give the Imperial Japanese Navy a weapon capable of successfully attacking US Navy ships.

The first powered one flew in November 1944 and they were first used in April 1945.

The Ohka 11 was almost unstoppable once launched but they had to be carried close to their targets by Mitsubishi G4M2 (Betty) bombers which were very vulnerable to US fighters.

As a result most Ohkas were shot down before they were launched, so versions with longer range were planned but not built.

Eight hundred and fifty-two Ohkas were made but a much smaller number were used. They sank or damaged only seven US Navy ships.

This model represents a standard Ohka 11.

A&V Models 1/72 kit and Falcon canopy completed by Leigh Edmonds in January 2014.

Data

MODEL: Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka 11

ROLE: human-guided anti-shipping aircraft

TIME PERIOD: 1944-1945

ENGINES: three Type 4 Mark 1 Model 20 solid fuel rocket of 2.60kN thrust each

WING SPAN: 5.12m

LENGTH: 6.06m

GROSS WEIGHT: 2,140kg

MAXIMUM SPEED: 804km/h

RANGE: 36km

CREW: 1

ARMAMENT: 1,200kg Ammonal warhead

SCALE: 1/72

KIT:

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