Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
On the other hand, having 9,000 extra kanko and kanbaku, or a combination of kanko, kanbaku and kansen, means the carriers are kept filled to capacity with planes and pilots, and not only the CVs and CVLs but the CVEs too. It also means they will be the primary, and only long range strike assets. They might put more emphasis on enlarging the carrier fleet within their means (i am aware of the limitations of the japanese shipbuilding industry), like additional conversions such as the Kamakura-Marus, or Mizuho or Nisshin. There will still be land-based groups, but with just single-engine planes, so they will have to put emphasis on building airfields closer to the objective (about 300 nm at most) where practicable.
PS: Not quite a rikko, but i'll add the J1N here too, imo 900 plus Zeros are far more useful than the about 470 Gekkos.
Well, roughly 5000 of them would be certainly assured of aircrews, and as the rikkos had up to 7-9 crew including pilots and copilots, most of these copilots could be trained as pilots for the others.
What you propose, a partial reduction of rikko production, has merits too, for instance if Nakajima is not contracted to build 400 plus G3M from 1941 and instead keep building extra 800 B5Ns, it's a much better situation for the carrier kankotais in 1941-43 period. Then Aichi and Hiro build 480 D3As instead of the OTL 480 B5N production.
Continuing the trend, if say 1000-1500 less G4Ms are build, then that's an additional 2000-3000 D4Y (definitely with a radial engine, another subject but inserted here as well as it's an idea i greatly favour)/B6N/some C6N/J2M etc. instead. As to the P1Y, a good aircraft but i'd rather replace those 1100 with 2000 plus of the magnificent B7A (same engine), or a combination of say 1000 B7A and 1000 plus N1K-J Shidens (they need every fighter they could get at this time).
And despite being a good machine, i would still have the fighter like B7A built instead of the P1Y. Reading how sometimes the D3A challenged F4Fs in 1942 and outmaneuvered them (but greatly handicapped by the light artmament of just 2x 7,7mm frontal guns), i'm thinking a B7A could actually go head on with an F6F and still have a chance, those 20mm guns could kill even the sturdy american planes.
This kind of performance would seriously embarass the F4F-4 of 1942. These ATL rikkos would then be more survivable, and more effective pound for pound, but still a higher number of carrier bombers and attack planes so that the carriers are filled to capacity must have priority first.
A japanese Bearcat or at least Sea Fury is what i think the A7M should have been, the OTL Reppu was simply too big for the Homare engine and the MK9 engine wsa far too late. There are many permutations, but less emphasis on the rikkos and more on carrier planes should allow Mitsubishi to have the small A7M (say length 10 metres, span 12,5 metres) flying already in 1942 (instead of the J2M). If the resulting aircraft at least equals the F6F-3 in performance (about 600 kph speed, four 20mm cannons, good dive speed, reasonably protected fuel tanks), it's already a huge advance for IJNAF. But like always the engine is the problem, Kasei is too big and doesn't have enough power, Homare is a bit late and unreliable, my solution being an ALT- Mamoru (48litres, 18 cylinder, 1900 HP initially then 2100 HP with MW injection, basically and earlier Ha-219), which should be ready in 1942. Or if all else fails maybe the Ha-104, comparable in size to the R-3350 or Centaurus from the Sea Fury, but iirc of smaller diameter, but still bigger than the alt-Mamoru.How about making a capable fighter 1st, and then bomb-up it? Sorta Japanese Hellcat (not the A7M), or japanese Bearcat? Or a no-nonsense J2M (with 'normal' engine for the starters)?
But then again, a D4Y or a combat-ready C6Y (both types with mandatory self-sealing tanks) certainly have their appeal IMO.
Total for G3M, G4M and P1Y seems to be ~4600 (1048+2435+1102). With just two designs produced, and to the total of ~3000, there is enough of material to make extra 2x1600 = 3200 of 1-engined attackers - quite a number.
Unlike for Western powers, were payload was the king many times (so the attacked factories will require less sorties to be destroyed), main targets for the Japanese aircraft were the tactical ones - even against the Chinese - thus 1-engined A/C are very viable proposals.
As i understand, there was no escort for the G4Ms becasue the drop tanks for the Zeros hadn't arrived yet, otherwise iirc at 420 miles away drop tank Zeros (maximum of 600 nm radius) could have easily escorted the rikkos.Early WW2 most nations had to find out how there designs worked in a serious war. The G4M had fantastic range which was a priority for Japans pre-war empire and further plans, however unprotected fuel tanks and light defensive armament was a disaster as shown in Solomons fighting. The other flaw was that the A6M did not have the range to escort G4M to fullest (even with drop tanks). In March 1942 G4M had to attack US Lexington task force without A6M escort and was slaughtered.
The P1Y was the correct response a faster smaller plane with less crew, a real attack plane, but choice of and problems with Homare motor meant it came 2 years late.
An attack version of J1N is an interesting idea that would have been available in early 1942, 315mph unloaded is hard to catch.
If the resulting aircraft at least equals the F6F-3 in performance (about 600 kph speed, four 20mm cannons, good dive speed, reasonably protected fuel tanks), it's already a huge advance for IJNAF. But like always the engine is the problem, Kasei is too big and doesn't have enough power, Homare is a bit late and unreliable, my solution being an ALT- Mamoru (48litres, 18 cylinder, 1900 HP initially then 2100 HP with MW injection, basically and earlier Ha-219), which should be ready in 1942. Or if all else fails maybe the Ha-104, comparable in size to the R-3350 or Centaurus from the Sea Fury, but iirc of smaller diameter, but still bigger than the alt-Mamoru.