J8M Shūsui

The Mitsubishi J8M Shūsui was a Japanese rocket‑propelled interceptor conceived in the final months of World War II as a desperate response to Allied air superiority. Inspired by the German Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet, the J8M was intended to be launched from aircraft carriers or short‑runway bases and then glide back after firing its armament of two 30 mm cannons. Development began in 1944 under the code name “Kanzō,” and the first prototype, the J8M1, flew unpowered as a glider in early 1945. By July 1945 the powered version, equipped with a Tsu-11 liquid‑fueled rocket motor producing approximately 2,000 kgf of thrust, achieved its maiden powered flight. Key features included a lightweight, streamlined airframe of metal and plywood, a retractable skid for carrier landings, and a fuel system that mixed hydrogen peroxide with a kerosene‑based fuel. Although only a handful of prototypes were completed before Japan’s surrender, the J8M demonstrated Japan’s capacity to reverse‑engineer advanced aeronautics under extreme constraints. Its brief existence highlighted the strategic shift toward high‑speed, low‑altitude interceptors and foreshadowed post‑war developments in rocket‑powered flight, influencing early Cold‑War experimental aircraft programs worldwide.

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