VLR P-51 Mustang Vs. Japanese Fighters – Japan 1945 (2025)

Osprey Publishing

Osprey Duel Series (2025)

80 Pages / 60 photos / 14 illustrations / 3 maps

$23.00

ISBN: PB 97814722866400           eBook: 9781472866431

Purchase: Osprey Publishing

Though American P-51D Mustang pilots encountered defending Japanese fighters over the Tokyo area for only about four months at the end of World War II, their combats were as brutal and unforgiving as any of the conflict. The Mustang, already having established its legendary status in combat over Europe in 1944, took the measure of 10 different fighter types operated by Japanese army and naval units, whether the Americans’ mission was escorting B-29 bombers or attacking ground targets. The Japanese fighter forces had the advantage of defending a relatively small and well-defined target area, but they were doomed by a flawed command system, obsolete tactics, a shortage of combat-capable pilots and other problems. The very long-range capability of the P-51D made the entire campaign possible, allowing its pilots to make the 650-mile flight to Central Honshu, engage the enemy, and fly back to their island bases on Iwo Jima in the Bonin Islands. After six to seven hours in their cramped cockpits, exhausted VLR pilots often had to be lifted out of their Mustangs by their ground crewmen. In the end, superior experience and training of the American pilots flying the USAAF’s best fighter allowed them to roll up a record of 233 confirmed victories against 51 combat losses over Japan. For their part, the Japanese defenders scored a number of successes against the marauding Mustang formations.