D3A “Val”, Japanese Carrier Dive Bomber

Photograph of D3A "Val"

U.S. Air Force. Via Francillon (1979)

Aichi D3A1 “Val”

Specifications:

Crew

2 in tandem cockpit

Dimensions

47'2" by 33'7" by 10'11"
14.38m by 10.24m by 3.33m

Wing area

375.7 square feet
34.9 square meters

Weight

5310-8047 lbs
2409-3650 kg

Speed

242 mph at 9845 feet
389 km/h at 3000 meters

Cruising speed

184 mph at 9845 feet
2967 km/h at 3000 meters

Climb rate

25 feet per second
7.6 meters per second

Ceiling

30,050 feet
9160 meters

Powerplant

One Mitsubishi Kinsei 44 fourteen-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, rated at 1,070 hp for take-off and 1,080 hp at 6560 feet, driving a three-blade metal propeller

Armament

Two forward-firing 7.7 mm Type 97 machine guns in the engine cowling
One flexible rear-firing 7.7 mm Type 92 machine gun

External stores

One 250 kg (661 lb) bomb under the fuselage
Two 60 kg (132 lb) bombs under the wings

Range

915 miles
1473 km

Production

A total of 1495 D3A were manufactured as follows:
	Aichi Kokuki K.K., at the Funakata, Nagoya plant:
		470 D3A1 Model 11 production aircraft (12/39 – 8/42) 1 D3A2 Model 12 prototype (6/42) 815 D3A2 Model 22 production aircraft (8/42 – 6/44)
	Showa Hikoki Kogyo K.K. in Tokyo:
		201 D3A2 Model 22 production aircraft (12/42 – 8/45)

Variants

Early production D3A1s had a 1000 hp Kinsei 43 engine.

The D3A2 had a 1300 hp Kinsei 54 engine, which increased its maximum speed to 267 mph at 20,000 feet.

The Val was the standard Japanese carrier dive bomber at the time of Pearl Harbor, and, together with the Zero and Kate, it ruled the skies of the Pacific during the first half of 1942. It was remarkably maneuverable for a light bomber, and achieved reasonable performance in spite of such anachronisms as its fixed landing gear. It was not able to hold as steep a dive as the U.S. Navy’s Dauntless (65 degrees versus over 70 degrees) but pilot skill more than made up the difference, with a hit accuracy of better than 80% against the British carrier Hermes and cruisers Cornwall and Dorsetshire. It is a measure of how badly Japanese pilot skill deteriorated that, by the end of the war, the remaining Vals were hitting their targets only 10% of the time.

Though superseded by the D4Y Judy by 1943, the Val continued in production for second-line and kamikaze service. It was not a particularly successful kamikaze aircraft, achieving few results for the number of aircraft expended.

References

Francillon (1979)

Wilson (1998)