Quote:
Originally Posted by T. A. Gardner
The Okha rocket bomb was actually a rather deadly suicide system. Although many of the launch aircraft were shot down by CAP before they launched the actual Okha itself was devastatingly effective if it did manage a launch and go terminal on a target. Its speed was such that current US AA director systems on ships couldn't track it. It was tiny target and one, or two at most, would sink a destroyer and cripple most other ships.
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I totally agree with you. The Ohka is a devastatingly powerful weapon. But as you said, it's deadliness is limited to the fact that it has to be launched from a Betty. It doesn't make sense to me when a commander is losing trained bomber crews when it's supposed to be the Ohka pilot who's making the sacrifice. Sooner or later, he'll run out of experienced crews and have to make do with green crews, thus increasing his loss rate further. It's a downhill projection. This is a Western viewpoint.
If I put myself in the Japanese shoes, the only way to justify such losses is to think that exchanging the life of a bomber crew and Ohka pilot and one destroyer, cruiser, or heavier warship is more than a fair exchange.