{"id":708924,"date":"2026-05-10T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?p=708924"},"modified":"2026-09-04T09:34:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T07:34:45","slug":"kugisho-yokosuka-mxy7-ohka-rocket-kamikaze-baka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/kugisho-yokosuka-mxy7-ohka-rocket-kamikaze-baka\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ohka: Japan&#8217;s Rocket-Powered Kamikaze"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\n\n<style>\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid #0F1720;background:#fff;color:#0F1720;font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;font-weight:700;line-height:1;letter-spacing:0;text-transform:none;cursor:pointer;box-shadow:none;transition:background .15s,color 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It carried a 1,200-kilogram warhead in its nose. The cockpit held only rudimentary instruments \u2014 an airspeed indicator, an altimeter, an attitude indicator \u2014 and the controls to fire three solid-fuel rocket motors. There was no landing gear. There was no parachute. The pilot was never expected to return.<\/p>\n\n<p>The Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka \u2014 Japanese for \"cherry blossom\" \u2014 was the first purpose-built suicide aircraft in history. The Allies, who fought it from March 1945 until the end of the war, called it Baka. The word translates as \"fool.\"<\/p>\n<div style=\"background:#f5f6f8;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:18px 22px;margin:24px 0;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:15.5px;line-height:1.65\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;color:#333\">Quick Facts<\/p><p style=\"margin:6px 0\"><strong>Aircraft:<\/strong> Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka Model 11<\/p><p style=\"margin:6px 0\"><strong>First flight:<\/strong> October 1944<\/p><p style=\"margin:6px 0\"><strong>Length:<\/strong> 6.07 m (19 ft 11 in)<\/p><p style=\"margin:6px 0\"><strong>Warhead:<\/strong> 1,200 kg (2,600 lb) high explosive<\/p><p style=\"margin:6px 0\"><strong>Powerplant:<\/strong> 3\u00d7 Type 4 Mark 1 Model 20 solid-fuel rockets<\/p><p style=\"margin:6px 0\"><strong>Top speed:<\/strong> 650 km\/h horizontal, up to 1,000 km\/h in terminal dive<\/p><p style=\"margin:6px 0\"><strong>Range from launch:<\/strong> 37 km after release from G4M Betty bomber<\/p><p style=\"margin:6px 0\"><strong>Total built:<\/strong> 852 (74 flown in combat)<\/p><\/div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/g4m-betty-ohka-mothership.jpg\" alt=\"G4M Betty bomber\" style=\"display:block;width:100%!important;max-width:100%!important;height:auto!important;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A Mitsubishi G4M \"Betty\" \u2014 the bomber that carried each Ohka to within 30 km of its target before releasing it. Photo: Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A Weapon Born of Desperation<\/h2>\n\n<p>By autumn 1944 Japan was losing on every front. The American B-29 raids were accelerating. Allied submarine warfare had cut off Japanese oil supplies. Conventional kamikaze pilots \u2014 fighters loaded with explosives and flown directly into Allied warships \u2014 were achieving real results, but the aircraft were obsolete and slow. American carrier-based combat air patrols were shooting them down before they reached their targets.<\/p>\n\n<p>A junior officer, Ensign Mitsuo Ohta, proposed a different approach, developed by the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal \u2014 the Kugisho: build an aircraft optimised purely for the suicide mission. Cheap. Fast. Hard to intercept. Carried to the target by a conventional bomber. The pilot would only have to fly the last few minutes \u2014 the part where speed and inevitability mattered most.<\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">How It Worked<\/h2>\n\n<p>An Ohka mission began with a Mitsubishi G4M \"Betty\" twin-engine bomber, modified with an Ohka clamped under the bomb bay. The Betty climbed to altitude and approached the target fleet. At roughly 30 to 35 kilometres from the target, the Ohka pilot \u2014 who rode in the bomber and climbed through the bomb bay into his cramped cockpit shortly before the attack \u2014 was released.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/ohka-rocket-suicide-aircraft.jpg\" alt=\"Ohka rocket aircraft\" style=\"display:block;width:100%!important;max-width:100%!important;height:auto!important;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The Ohka in flight configuration. Three solid-fuel rocket motors gave it 60 seconds of powered flight at 650 km\/h. Photo: Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Ohka glided downward, building speed. Once aligned with the target, the pilot ignited the rocket motors. The little aircraft accelerated to 650 km\/h horizontally, then transitioned into a terminal dive approaching 1,000 km\/h \u2014 faster than any Allied fighter could catch. The warhead was fused to detonate on impact.<\/p>\n\n<p>One Ohka strike on the destroyer USS Mannert L. Abele on 12 April 1945 killed 84 men and broke the ship in half. It was the first warship in history sunk by a piloted missile \u2014 and the only one the Ohka ever sank outright.<\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Allied Counter<\/h2>\n\n<p>The American counter-strategy was simple: kill the bombers before they could release. The Ohka had no usable range without its mothership. The G4M Betty, weighed down by an Ohka, was 50 km\/h slower than normal and could not manoeuvre. American F6F Hellcats and F4U Corsairs were given strict instructions to focus fire on Bettys carrying Ohkas, and to ignore unloaded escort fighters until the Ohka was destroyed.<\/p>\n\n<p>The strategy worked. Of the roughly 300 Ohkas available for the Okinawa campaign, only 74 were ever carried into action, and just seven US ships were sunk or damaged by them. The vast majority were destroyed in their motherships before release.<\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Pilots<\/h2>\n\n<p>The Ohka programme drew its pilots from the same pool as the conventional kamikaze units. Most were university students conscripted in 1944. Their training was minimal \u2014 the aircraft was, after all, designed for one flight only. Many never got to make even that flight; their motherships were shot down before release, killing the Ohka pilot along with the bomber crew.<\/p>\n\n<p>More than a dozen Ohkas survive in museums today, from Tokyo to London to Washington. Each is small, neat, and unsettlingly cheerful in appearance \u2014 a reminder that the most cruel weapons in aviation history are not always the largest.<\/p>\n\n<p><em>Sources: Imperial War Museum, National Air and Space Museum, \"Suicide Squads\" by Richard O'Neill.<\/em><\/p>\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\n\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\n\n\n<!-- mf-faq -->\n\n<div class=\"mf-faq-block\"><style>.mf-faq-block{margin:34px 0}.mf-faq-item:not([open]) .mf-faq-answer{display:none !important}.mf-faq-block h2.mf-faq-h{padding-top:22px;margin-bottom:14px}.mf-faq-item{border:1px solid #e2e8f5;border-radius:8px;margin:0 0 10px;background:#fff}.mf-faq-item summary{list-style:none;cursor:pointer;padding:15px 50px 15px 18px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a1a;position:relative;line-height:1.45;user-select:none}.mf-faq-item summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mf-faq-item summary::after{content:\"+\";position:absolute;right:18px;top:50%;transform:translateY(-50%);font-size:1.5em;font-weight:400;color:#5C91FF;line-height:1}.mf-faq-item[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mf-faq-item[open] summary{border-bottom:1px solid #eef1f8}.mf-faq-item summary:hover{background:#f5f8ff}.mf-faq-answer{padding:14px 18px;color:#333;line-height:1.6}.mf-faq-answer p{margin:0}.mf-faq-answer a{color:#5C91FF}<\/style><h2 class=\"mf-faq-h\">Related Questions<\/h2><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What was the Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka was the first purpose-built suicide aircraft in history, fielded by Japan from March 1945. A small rocket-powered glider, it carried a 1,200 kg warhead in its nose and had no landing gear and no parachute - the pilot was never expected to return. Allied forces nicknamed it \"Baka,\" meaning \"fool.\"<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What does \"Ohka\" mean?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>\"Ohka\" means \"cherry blossom\" in Japanese, the poetic name Japan gave to its rocket-powered suicide aircraft in 1945. The Americans who fought it used a blunter nickname: \"Baka,\" the Japanese word for \"fool,\" reflecting their contempt for a weapon that required the deliberate death of its pilot on every mission.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>How fast was the Ohka?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The Ohka reached about 650 km\/h in level powered flight and approached 1,000 km\/h in its terminal dive - faster than any Allied fighter could catch. Three solid-fuel rocket motors gave it roughly 60 seconds of powered flight after it was released from its mothership, just enough to accelerate into a target.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>How was the Ohka launched?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The Ohka had no useful range of its own, so it was carried into battle slung beneath a Mitsubishi G4M \"Betty\" bomber. The pilot climbed into the cramped cockpit shortly before the attack, and the Ohka was released roughly 30 to 35 km from the target fleet, gliding down before igniting its rockets.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Did the Ohka sink any ships?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Yes, but very few. The Ohka sank the US destroyer USS Mannert L. Abele on 12 April 1945 - the only warship it ever sank outright. Of around 300 available for the Okinawa campaign, only 74 were carried into action, and just seven US ships were sunk or damaged, as most were destroyed before release.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>How did the Allies defeat the Ohka?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The Allies destroyed the bombers before they could release their Ohkas. A G4M Betty weighed down by an Ohka flew about 50 km\/h slower and could barely manoeuvre, so US Hellcats and Corsairs were ordered to focus their fire on the laden bombers. Most Ohkas were destroyed while still attached to their motherships.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Who flew the Ohka?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Ohka pilots were drawn from the same pool as Japan\u2019s conventional kamikaze units - mostly university students conscripted in 1944. Their training was minimal, since the aircraft was designed for a single one-way mission. Like other desperate late-war Japanese projects such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/kyushu-j7w-shinden-japanese-canard-pusher-fighter-august-1945\/\">Kyushu J7W Shinden<\/a>, it reflected a nation running out of time.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>How many Ohkas were built?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Japan built 852 Ohka Model 11 aircraft, of which only 74 were ever flown in combat. The type first flew in October 1944 and saw action from March 1945 until the war\u2019s end. It marked one of the darkest chapters in the broader <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/military-aviation-history-zeppelin-to-sixth-generation\/\">history of military aviation<\/a> during the final months of WWII.<\/p><\/div><\/details><\/div>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka was the first purpose-built suicide aircraft in history, fielded by Japan from March 1945. A small rocket-powered glider, it carried a 1,200 kg warhead in its nose and had no landing gear and no parachute - the pilot was never expected to return. Allied forces nicknamed it \\\"Baka,\\\" meaning \\\"fool.\\\"\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What does \\\"Ohka\\\" mean?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"\\\"Ohka\\\" means \\\"cherry blossom\\\" in Japanese, the poetic name Japan gave to its rocket-powered suicide aircraft in 1945. The Americans who fought it used a blunter nickname: \\\"Baka,\\\" the Japanese word for \\\"fool,\\\" reflecting their contempt for a weapon that required the deliberate death of its pilot on every mission.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How fast was the Ohka?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Ohka reached about 650 km\/h in level powered flight and approached 1,000 km\/h in its terminal dive - faster than any Allied fighter could catch. Three solid-fuel rocket motors gave it roughly 60 seconds of powered flight after it was released from its mothership, just enough to accelerate into a target.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How was the Ohka launched?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Ohka had no useful range of its own, so it was carried into battle slung beneath a Mitsubishi G4M \\\"Betty\\\" bomber. The pilot climbed into the cramped cockpit shortly before the attack, and the Ohka was released roughly 30 to 35 km from the target fleet, gliding down before igniting its rockets.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did the Ohka sink any ships?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes, but very few. The Ohka sank the US destroyer USS Mannert L. Abele on 12 April 1945 - the only warship it ever sank outright. Of around 300 available for the Okinawa campaign, only 74 were carried into action, and just seven US ships were sunk or damaged, as most were destroyed before release.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How did the Allies defeat the Ohka?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Allies destroyed the bombers before they could release their Ohkas. A G4M Betty weighed down by an Ohka flew about 50 km\/h slower and could barely manoeuvre, so US Hellcats and Corsairs were ordered to focus their fire on the laden bombers. Most Ohkas were destroyed while still attached to their motherships.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who flew the Ohka?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Ohka pilots were drawn from the same pool as Japan\u2019s conventional kamikaze units - mostly university students conscripted in 1944. Their training was minimal, since the aircraft was designed for a single one-way mission. Like other desperate late-war Japanese projects such as the <a href=\\\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/kyushu-j7w-shinden-japanese-canard-pusher-fighter-august-1945\/\\\">Kyushu J7W Shinden<\/a>, it reflected a nation running out of time.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How many Ohkas were built?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Japan built 852 Ohka Model 11 aircraft, of which only 74 were ever flown in combat. The type first flew in October 1944 and saw action from March 1945 until the war\u2019s end. It marked one of the darkest chapters in the broader <a href=\\\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/military-aviation-history-zeppelin-to-sixth-generation\/\\\">history of military aviation<\/a> during the final months of WWII.\"}}]}<\/script><!-- \/mf-faq -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Share this story The aircraft was 6.07 metres long. It carried a 1,200-kilogram warhead in its nose. The cockpit held only rudimentary instruments \u2014 an airspeed indicator, an altimeter, an attitude indicator \u2014 and the controls to fire three solid-fuel rocket motors. There was no landing gear. There was no parachute. The pilot was never [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":708905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-708924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Ohka: Japan&#039;s Rocket-Powered Kamikaze | Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The aircraft was 6.07 metres long. 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