Technical Air Intelligence Unit Technical Air Intelligence Units ( TAIU ) 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 ( TAIU – SWPA ) , was formed in November 1942 by the United States Navy ( USN ) , United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) and Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) 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 . Crashed and captured aircraft were located , identified , and evaluated ( often in or near the front lines ) , before being recovered for further tests . Aircraft that were not too badly damaged were rebuilt for test flights that revealed vulnerabilities that could be exploited . Examination of the materials used in the construction of aircraft allowed the Allies to analyse Japanese war production . The unit also absorbed a small team who developed the code name system for Japanese aircraft , and produced aircraft recognition charts and photographs . Early technical air intelligence operations . The attack on Pearl Harbor demonstrated the key role of aircraft in the Pacific War , but the United States possessed virtually no information about the capabilities of Japanese aircraft . Several shot down aircraft were recovered from Hawaii and examined by the U . S . Navy and USAAF , who completed their own separate studies . The USAAF formed a unit based at Wright Field , Ohio , with the assistance of the British Royal Air Force ' s technical intelligence section , which had been operating successfully since 1939 . Meanwhile , the U . S . Navy set up a captured enemy equipment unit at Naval Air Station Anacostia outside Washington D . C . A joint Army - Navy Technical Air Intelligence Unit was proposed , but neither service was prepared to work with the other . A Mitsubishi A6M " Zero " of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service made a forced landing in June 1942 on Akutan Island , off Alaska . The aircraft ( known later as the " Akutan Zero " ) was recovered by the USN and shipped to NAS North Island , California , where it was repaired and made a number of test flights to determine its performance and capabilities . In late 1942 , the Australian Army captured lightly damaged or incomplete examples of the Nakajima Ki - 43 " Hayabusa " ( " Oscar " ) – the main fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force during the war – in Papua New Guinea . The Ki - 43s were discovered nearly intact at Buna Airfield , after the Battle of Buna – Gona , and were shipped to Australia for examination . TAIU operations . 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 , 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 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 . Other Technical Air Intelligence Units . A joint RAF / USAAF unit , known as the TAIU for South East Asia " ( ATAIU - SEA ) was formed in Calcutta in late 1943 , and disbanded at Singapore in 1946 . Two other units were also created ; " TAIU for the Pacific Ocean Area " ( TAIU - POA ) , a U . S . Navy unit which operated in the Pacific Islands , and " TAIU for China " ( TAIU - CHINA ) under the control of Chiang Kai - shek ' s Nationalists . Post - war operations . Technical Air Intelligence Units operated in Japan after the end of the war , shifting from tactical intelligence to post - hostilities investigations . General Hap Arnold ordered the preservation of four of every type of aircraft one of each for the USAAF , USN , RAF and museum collections . By the end of 1945 these were collected together at Yokohama Naval Base . One hundred and fifteen aircraft were shipped to the United States , with 73 going to the Army and 42 to the Navy . However , lack of funds , storage space and interest meant that only six aircraft were restored , flown and evaluated by the Army and only two by the Navy . Eventually , 46 complete aircraft were sent to various museums while the rest were scrapped . By early 1946 ATAIU - SEA in Singapore had collected 64 Japanese Army and Navy aircraft , most in flyable condition , for shipment to the UK . However , lack of shipping space prevented this operation and only four eventually arrived in England to be put in display in museums .