Yokosuka D4Y

The Yokosuka D4Y Suisei (彗星, "comet") was a single-seat dive bomber of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Its Allied codename was "Judy".

It was developed starting in 1938 at the First Naval Air Technical Arsenal in Yokosuka, Japan. Service trials demonstrated weakness in the wing structure, a fatal flaw for an airframe subject to the stresses of the dive bombing maneuver, and the initial models were used as reconnaissance planes starting in late 1942.

These problems were fixed by March 1943, and ultimately 2,038 were produced, mostly by Aichi. Lacking armor and self-sealing fuel tanks, the Suiseis did not do well against Allied fighters. They did, however, cause considerable damage to ships, including the carrier USS Franklin, which was nearly sunk by a single "Judy".

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Designation Series	D1A - D2A - D3A - D4Y - D5Y
Related Lists	List of military aircraft of Japan

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