J2M (Family)

Description

The Mitsubishi J2M, designated Raiden (雷電), was a single-engine fighter aircraft developed for the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. It was designed to intercept high-altitude bombers and had a powerful engine, heavy armament and good speed. The J2M had several variants and was used in combat against American bombers and fighter interception over Japan and performed well, but it suffered from reliability issues and production delays. The J2M was one of the more advanced Japanese fighters of the war, but it could not alter the course of the conflict.

Nicknames being:

• ▅ - Raiden (雷電, Lightning Bolt)
• ▃ - Jack

Vehicles

Rank III

• J2M2 - Raiden Model 11

Rank IV

• J2M3 - Raiden Model 21
• J2M4 Kai* - Raiden Model 32
• J2M5 - Raiden Model 33
• J2M5 30mm - Raiden Model 33 (Type 5 30 mm)

History

Development

During the China Incident (Sino-Japanese war) the Navy sustained some damage from Chinese bomber groups as they didn't have any dedicated interceptors at the time, for this reason, the Navy put out multiple specifications for planes to deal with threats that the Chinese made clear to the Navy. For bombers specifically they specified a strictly local-defence interceptor known as the 14-Shi Interceptor; which stated the following:

     Speed       ≥ 340 kn (at 6,000 m)
   Climb rate    ≥ 6,000 m within 5 minutes 30 seconds
    Ceiling      ≥ 11,000 m
 Cuising range   ≥ 0.7 hours at the highest speed (at 6,000 m).
    Armament     = 2 x 20 mm and 2 x 7.7 mm
     Other       = Bulletproof plate behind the pilot seat.

Mitsubishi was the only one to respond to this specification and put Jiro Horikoshi and his team in charge just after they finished work on the 12-Shi Carrier Fighter (A6M).

But as far as development went, teething development problems stemming from the Kasei 23 engine cooling system and the landing gear led to a slowdown in development and especially production. From excessive vibrations from the engine, poor landing gear design got Lt. Hoashi Takumi killed in a test flight.

Even with the many issues in development, Mitsubishi pushed the J2M into mass production without even having it formally adopted by the Navy in September of 1943, problems were still present, and its specifications weren't as projected in reality, output was lower than expected, and electrical faults still haunt the landing gear. These low output problems at high altitudes were being resolved with a new specification dubbed under the 14-Shi Kai Interceptor* which resulted in the J2M4 with as engine the Kasei 23c having the requested performance and allowed for the J2M's further development. Its last variants within the J2M family were bolstering the Kasei 26a engine and resulted in the J2M5 and J2M7's (which were J2M3 fuselages with the new engine). All these new variants and new engines boosted their performance, but electrical malfunctions were never truly solved.

The Raiden was officially adopted by the Navy in October of 1944, 5 years after the issued request.

The J2M4 in-game (J2M4 Kai) isn't a separate variant of the J2M4 as the Kai stems from 14-Shi Kai

Combat History

The first few produced J2M2s were delivered to the development units in December 1942, but the troublesome amount of engine problems still held it back from mass production. Troubleshooting almost took a year, and the first batch of the serial built J2M2 Model 11 could be delivered to 381st Kōkūtai in December of 1943. Parallel with the J2M2, production of the J2M3 Model 21 started, which would appear in October of 1943, but deliveries to combat units only started at the beginning of February of 1944.

The Raiden made its combat debut in June 1944 during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Several J2Ms operated from Guam and Saipan and a small number of aircraft were deployed to the Philippines. Later, some J2Ms were based in Chosen airfields, Yokosuka, Yatabe, Genzan, Tainan, Konoike and Chushi for defence and fighting against potential Soviet threats and units.

Primarily designed to intercept bombers like the Boeing B-29 Superfortress which became very common near the end of the war. The early J2Ms were handicapped at high altitude by the lack of a turbocharger, even though its four-cannon armament supplied effective firepower, and the use of dive and zoom tactics allowed it to score occasionally.

J2Ms took part in one of the final aerial combats of the Second World War when four Raidens, accompanied by eight Mitsubishi A6M Zero, all belonging to the 302nd Kokutai, intercepted a formation of USN F6F Hellcats from the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10) during the morning of 15 August 1945 over the Kanto Plain. In the engagement that took place only two hours before Japan officially announced its surrender, four Hellcats were lost along with two Raidens and two Zeros.

Media

The Shooting Range #178 - Pages of History section at 04:36 discusses the J2M "Raiden".

IN THE NAME OF THUNDER! - Raiden section at 01:53 discusses the J2M's.

Mitsubishi Company (三菱商会)
Fighters	A5M4 · Hagiri's A5M4
	A6M2 mod. 11 · A6M2 · A6M3 · A6M3 mod. 22 · A6M3 mod. 22Ko · A6M5 · A6M5 Ko · A6M5 otsu · A6M5 Hei · A6M6c
	A7M1 (NK9H) · A7M2
	J2M2 · J2M3 · J2M4 Kai · J2M5 · J2M5 (30 mm)
Hydroplanes	F1M2
Interceptors	Ki-83 · Ki-109
Bombers	G4M1
	Ki-21-Ia · Ki-21-I hei · Ki-67-I Ko · Ki-67-I otsu
Jet Fighters	Ki-200
Captured	▃A6M2 · ␗A6M2
See also	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (Post-War)