Historium

Documentary

The Human Inside the Missile: Japan’s Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka

Documentary

Description

Japan’s Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka placed a human pilot inside a weapon designed for a one-way attack. The operational Model 11 was carried toward its target beneath a bomber, released into a glide and accelerated with rocket motors during the final approach. Its speed near the target did not remove the vulnerability of the larger aircraft carrying it into range.

This documentary explains the relationship between the pilot, the explosive payload and the launch aircraft. Those details distinguish Ohka from a conventional fighter diverted to a suicide mission, and from other experimental Japanese attack projects.

The weapon entered combat during the final months of the Pacific War, when Japan faced overwhelming pressure at sea and in the air. Surviving museum examples and naval accounts help explain its operation and limitations. They also return attention to the people placed inside a system whose intended use offered no return flight.

Sources and further reading: Yokosuka MXY7-K1 Ohka

Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka

Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka (Baka Bombs)

Historium research desk

Historical context

Japan’s rocket-powered Ohka depended on a pilot and a vulnerable carrier bomber. Its design and combat record reveal the limits of a weapon built around a one-way mission.

Documentary

Transcript

Read the complete spoken text

EN transcript

This transcript follows the video’s narration. The companion article provides dated sources, historical context and editorial corrections.

0:00 World War II saw the creation of some of history's most terrifying
0:04 suicide weapons.
0:06 Developed late in the war to destroy American warships, the Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka
0:11 was essentially a massive, human-guided rocket bomb, rather than
0:18 a traditional aircraft.
0:19 The Japanese named it Ohka, meaning "cherry blossom", but Allied forces gave
0:25 it a much more insulting nickname, the "Baka bomb", Japanese for "idiot".
0:31 By design, the mission was a one-way ticket.
0:34 Once the pilot entered the cockpit, the canopy was bolted shut from
0:38 the outside, making escape impossible.
0:41 The Ohka couldn't take off on its own.
0:44 It was carried beneath a Japanese bomber known as a Betty, and
0:48 released only when the target was in sight.
0:51 After release, the pilot would glide toward the enemy, before igniting three
0:56 rocket engines for the terminal dive.
0:59 In its final phase, the Ohka could exceed 900 kilometers per hour.
1:04 At that speed, it was nearly impossible for World War II-era
1:08 anti-aircraft fire to stop it.
1:10 Carrying a 1,200-kilogram warhead in its nose, it was powerful
1:15 enough to tear a warship apart with a single hit.
1:19 In many ways, the Ohka was a terrifying ancestor to the modern
1:24 guided missile.
1:25 The only difference?
1:27 It was controlled by a pilot sent to die, rather than a
1:31 computer.
1:32 But there was a fatal flaw.
1:34 While the Ohka itself was incredibly fast, the motherships were slow, lumbering
1:40 targets, easy prey for Allied fighters.
1:44 As a result, the Ohka's first major mission was a total disaster.
1:48 All 16 Betty bombers were intercepted and destroyed before they could even
1:54 deploy, costing the lives of hundreds of Japanese soldiers.

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