Airborne2001
Airman
- 17
- Jun 17, 2024
(I take no credit for any images in this post.)
One thing I've been curious about lately is if aircraft during (and around) WWII ever faced themselves (or their relatives) in combat. This interest started from the P-36 Wikipedia page, where there is the following quote:
"The P-36 was also used by Vichy French air forces in several minor conflicts; in one of these, the Franco-Thai War of 1940–41, P-36s were used by both sides."
I don't know if it ever "fought itself". If it did, Thailand may have been at a loss though since they were using the simplified Hawk 75N against the better "A-series" exports:
I do wonder about other conflicts as well. For example, Finland and the USSR both used licensed Hurricanes:
Japan captured and used several P-40s in Burma, and we know that the P-40 was used by the allies in East and South-East Asia until the end of the war:
While not in WWII, there were several other instances going into the Cold War of the same WWII-era aircraft being used on opposing sides:
Regarding relatives, I am mainly referring to the P-36 and P-40 being used in combat against each other (though I am not discounting the possibility of the Ki-43 and the Ki-84 meeting over China after WWII). They may have briefly been able to meet in combat during Operation Torch. I'm not sure if they met over Syria and Lebanon. One place that I am sure they may have fought each other in was around Finland:
Does anyone have any records of the same aircraft (or their relatives) fighting each other in WWII (or in other conflicts)? I'm interested to see how different nations may have used different tactics for the same aircraft, and how those could mesh in combat. Of course in the relatives case we know that one side would have an advantage with a stronger aircraft. For the same aircraft, I know for sure that it would be confusing, especially since Japan struggle to use the P-40 solely because of how much the Japanese military was used to fighting against P-40s. I think it's likely that some aircraft may have faced themselves, especially because there are other "outside of WWII" cases like the Spanish Civil War and even the Russian Revolution, though only one of those featured aircraft that would be used in WWII.
One thing I've been curious about lately is if aircraft during (and around) WWII ever faced themselves (or their relatives) in combat. This interest started from the P-36 Wikipedia page, where there is the following quote:
"The P-36 was also used by Vichy French air forces in several minor conflicts; in one of these, the Franco-Thai War of 1940–41, P-36s were used by both sides."
I don't know if it ever "fought itself". If it did, Thailand may have been at a loss though since they were using the simplified Hawk 75N against the better "A-series" exports:
I do wonder about other conflicts as well. For example, Finland and the USSR both used licensed Hurricanes:
Japan captured and used several P-40s in Burma, and we know that the P-40 was used by the allies in East and South-East Asia until the end of the war:
While not in WWII, there were several other instances going into the Cold War of the same WWII-era aircraft being used on opposing sides:
Regarding relatives, I am mainly referring to the P-36 and P-40 being used in combat against each other (though I am not discounting the possibility of the Ki-43 and the Ki-84 meeting over China after WWII). They may have briefly been able to meet in combat during Operation Torch. I'm not sure if they met over Syria and Lebanon. One place that I am sure they may have fought each other in was around Finland:
Does anyone have any records of the same aircraft (or their relatives) fighting each other in WWII (or in other conflicts)? I'm interested to see how different nations may have used different tactics for the same aircraft, and how those could mesh in combat. Of course in the relatives case we know that one side would have an advantage with a stronger aircraft. For the same aircraft, I know for sure that it would be confusing, especially since Japan struggle to use the P-40 solely because of how much the Japanese military was used to fighting against P-40s. I think it's likely that some aircraft may have faced themselves, especially because there are other "outside of WWII" cases like the Spanish Civil War and even the Russian Revolution, though only one of those featured aircraft that would be used in WWII.