Japanese aircraft engine identification systems
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Japanese aero-engines for military aircraft were given a wide variety of designations depending on the customer. This led to much confusion, particularly among the Allied forces, where a single engine type could have up to six different designations. This situation emerged because of the almost total lack of co-operation in weapons procurement between the IJAAS (大日本帝國陸軍航空隊 - Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun Kokutai - Imperial Japanese Army Air Service) and the IJNAS (大日本帝國海軍航空隊 - Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kaigun Koukuu-tai - Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service).
Engines could have designations in any or all of these designation systems:
- Army Hatsudoki experimental designation
- (Kawasaki Ha40)
- Army long designation
- (e.g. Army Type 99 900hp Air Cooled Radial)
- Navy experimental designation
- (Nakajima NK9B)
- Navy Name designation
- ( Nakajima Homare 11)
- Manufacturers designation
- (Nakajima NBA)
- Unified system introduced by the Ministry of Munitions in April 1942
- (Kawasaki Ha-60)
Data from:Japanese Aircraft 1910–1941[1] & Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War[2] & Japanese Aircraft Engines[3]