page_title: Technical Air Intelligence Unit
section_title: TAIU operations
hierarchical_section_title: Technical Air Intelligence Unit / TAIU operations
caption_attribution_description: A Japanese Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero in the Air Power Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Dayton, Ohio (USA).
context_page_description: Technical Air Intelligence Units were joint Allied military intelligence units formed during World War II to recover Japanese aircraft to obtain data regarding their technical and tactical capabilities.
  The first such unit, known later as Technical Air Intelligence Unit–South West Pacific, was formed in November 1942 by the United States Navy, United States Army Air Forces and Royal Australian Air Force at Eagle Farm Airbase, Brisbane, Australia, in November 1942.
  During 1943–44, three other TAIUs were formed in the other Allied theatres of the Pacific War.
  South East Asia: ATAIU–SEA; British Royal Air Force /USAAF
  Pacific Ocean Areas: TAIU–POA; USN
  China: Republic of China Air Force
  A proposed joint U.S. Army-U.S. Navy research unit in the continental United States was never established, as neither service was prepared to work with the other. Some Japanese aircraft were tested in the US, at various bases, by pilots from the Naval Air Test Center, the USAAF Test Training Unit and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.
  Crashed and captured aircraft were located, identified, and evaluated, before being recovered for further tests.
context_section_description: It was in order to consolidate and co-ordinate these different operations that the Technical Air Intelligence Unit was formed, based in Hangar 7 at the RAAF/USAAF Eagle Farm Airbase, in Brisbane, Australia, during November 1942. By early 1943 an "Oscar" had been built using parts from five different aircraft. Test flights included a mock dogfight against a Spitfire V. It was concluded that the "Oscar" was superior to the Spitfire below 20,000 feet. In late 1943 the aircraft was shipped to the United States aboard the escort carrier Copahee, and sent to Wright Field where it was flown and evaluated.
  Further success came in late December 1943, when US Marines captured the airfield at Cape Gloucester on the north coast of New Britain, finding many wrecks and several nearly intact aircraft. TAIU officers logged the serial numbers of the aircraft, and engine configurations, serial numbers and dates of manufacture. They inspected cockpits for layout and control locations, and armour plate. They recovered armaments and noted their locations and mounts. Some reports provided considerable detail, including oil and fuel tank capacities, and special electronics installed. One of these was a Kawasaki Ki-45 "Nick" fighter, about which little was known. Another fighter, a Kawasaki Ki-61 "Tony", was also examined.
  One of the biggest problems faced by the TAIU teams was Allied troops, who commonly stripped enemy aircraft for "souvenirs". Efforts were made to minimize indiscriminate souvenir hunting and troops were encouraged to turn in all captured items and report enemy aircraft wrecks. Most of these efforts were in vain, and it remained a constant problem throughout the war. Another obstacle was that most Japanese aircraft fell into the ocean, and those that did not often crashed in isolated areas that were difficult to reach. As an example, a newly developed Yokosuka D4Y "Judy" dive bomber with an in-line engine crashed six miles inland, on a 1,500-foot (460 m) hill, on Santa Isabel Island. The TAIU had to recruit local men to cut a trail to the crash site with machetes, and then carry out the engine on a cradle woven from tree bark.
  Crashed Enemy Aircraft Reports (CEARs) were systematically compiled from April 1943. In February 1944, it was agreed that production data on enemy equipment was essential, and more extensive reports detailed the age and condition of captured equipment to give an indication of the general state of the Japanese war economy, paying particular attention to the name plates and markings which gave information on the manufacturers. Eventually a special unit known as "JAPLATE" was created to conduct this task, and 6,336 intact name plates or their details were collected.
  In mid-1944, U.S. Navy personnel were withdrawn from the TAIU and reassigned to NAS Anacosta to form the Technical Air Intelligence Centre (TAIC) to centralise and co-ordinate the work of test centres in the United States with the work of TAIUs in the field. The unit was then renamed TAIU for the South West Pacific Area (TAIU-SWPA).
  Technical Air Intelligence operations were fully developed by the time of the invasion of the Philippines. Considerable instruction was given to the troops on the equipment likely to be found and the importance of its preservation. The TAIU-SWPA moved from Australia to the Philippines in early 1945 and gained an appreciation of the state of enemy technological and economic development essential to the build-up for the planned invasion of Japan.  Aircraft acquired there included examples of the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, Mitsubishi J2M "Jack", Kawasaki Ki-45 "Nick", Kawasaki Ki-61 "Tony", Kawanishi N1K "George", Nakajima Ki-44 "Tojo", and Nakajima Ki-84 "Frank" fighters; the Nakajima B5N "Kate", Nakajima B6N "Jill", Yokosuka D4Y "Judy", and Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bombers; the Showa L2D "Tabby" transport, and the Mitsubishi Ki-46 "Dinah" reconnaissance aircraft.
caption: Mitsubishi A6M2 "Zero" at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Dayton, Ohio. This aircraft was found near Kavieng on New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, and probably operated by the 6th Kokutai (Squadron) and later by the 253rd Kokutai. It is painted to represent a section leader's aircraft from the aircraft carrier Zuihō during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea in March 1943.[6]
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