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Nazi doctrine is about taking the USSR,
Yes, but Nazi philosophy and goal has always been taking territory to the west, from the USSR. The invasion of Poland was part of that, and the defeat of France but a means to continue eastward without distraction.Just a note. If the cut-off date is 27th September 1940 (the first post) then it's not a doctrine but just a Plan Otto in its early stage of development. Invitation to USSR to join Axis and intensive Moscow-Berlin negotiations are still ahead.
Germany had:For that goal, there are some tech and kit Japan has that Germany could use:
- The swamp vehicle might be useful in snow and mud
- Tractors and prime movers
- Diesel tank engines
Yes, it was a stretch to think of anything. Maybe Long Lance torpedoes, nothing else really.I honestly cannot see Japan being able to offer any better machine than what the Germans had already.
One of my dad's co workers had been a Marine and gone ashore on Saipan and Okinawa. He hauled his company's backpack radio and said when they were strafed by Japanese aircraft the radio crackled and became unreadable when the plane passed overhead. I remember hearing that captured Japanese aircraft had to have custom ignition harnesses fabricated if they were going to be flown stateside.Best radio in the world is useless if mounted in a plane that is acting like it's own jamming station.
By the time Japanese had the belt-fed for their equivalent of the MG FF, Germans also have the belt feed for the MG FFM (it was used on the Do 217 night fighters in 'forward' position). The Mine shell for the Japanese cannons is a very good proposal, it introduces stamped body for shells instead of machined body (= savings in material and manufacturing price and complexity), the M-shells are lighter thus their MV is much greater than of the 'classic' shells but without the loss of target effect. Would've mean the Type 99-1 doing above 700 m/s, and Type 99-2 at least 850 m/s?
Conversely, the armament of 4 belt-fed Type 99-1 guns with M-shell can offer an excellent firepower, with useful MV, all while being very light (both guns and ammo) for all that firepower.
As for the bombers - seems like nobody gave a good explanation why Japanese bombers were rarely carrying hefty bomb load, even the Ki-67 with it's powerful engines. 800 kg of bombs for 3800 HP? Granted, they were long-range types, but the ability to trade fuel load for bomb load seems nonexistent.
I'd again suggest that Japanese license produce the early Ju-288, powered by Kasei-21 for the starters.
Now - what about the Italians?
The Japanese had the equivalent of the He100 in the form of the KI-61 - they were FAR better off with the KI-100 radial conversion.
Ki 61 and He 100 were not equivalents, the He 100 was a much better performer, that a lot had to do with it being much smaller (wing area 14.6 sq m vs. 20 sq m), lighter and more streamined. It was also much earlier. Wing t-t-c of the Ki 61 was 16% at the root, while the wing profile was of the same 2R series as the Bf 109 used. Granted, Ki 61 was a more 'realistic' aircraft, with much increased fuel tankage, with drop tanks, 'classic' cooling system, better armament (even the early versions) and much better protection. Apart from it coming a bit late, the story of the DB 601 production in Japan was a sorry saga.
Ki 100 was even more later, too late.
Thus my suggestion for He 100 with Sakae - gets rid of the need for cooling system, Sakae was a small engine with decent power at altitude and was available early enough while being very reliable, no voluminous cooling system means that more fuel and armament can be tucked in, small size of the He 100 basic airframe will mean low drag. Kawasaki was already making the Sakae under licence. All in all it should end up as the Japanese equivalent of the FFVS J.22, performance-wise.
I have a feeling that it will lose 20mph that way,or the engine will burn if the cowling were made too tight.
I didn't say "identical" or "copy".
The He100 was certainly a performer, but it had short-comings that would have prevented it from being a front-line performer.
The KI-61's successor, the KI-100 was far better due to it's radial engine being fitted to the KI-61's airframe - the result being one of the best interceptors in the Japanese inventory.