The Imperial Japanese Navy's 1927 requirement called for a carrier attack aircraft with long-range reconnaissance capability. Mitsubishi sought outside design input because winning the contract was important to both its reputation and survival as a naval-aircraft manufacturer. A prototype was built in Britain, after which Mitsubishi developed the design with a locally produced Hispano-Suiza engine. The resulting aircraft combined an approximately 1,100-mile range with torpedo or bomb carriage and entered carrier service. Its Blackburn T.7B, Mitsubishi B2M, and Japanese Navy 3MR4 names can obscure a clear example of interwar naval-aviation design exchange.
Notable Point · 45:30-50:08
A Blackburn design enters Japanese carrier aviation
Mitsubishi drew on Blackburn for a new Japanese carrier attack aircraft, creating the B2M from a design also known through Blackburn and Japanese Navy designations.