The American claim to have shot down three defending fighters is doubtful. Crews identified the aircraft as Messerschmitt Bf 109s, although they were Kawasaki Ki-61 Hiens. Japanese designers produced their own ideas and capable aircraft despite the recurring assumption that their technology was copied from foreign designs. Limited industrial scale and access to raw materials constrained production. Those constraints should be distinguished from the originality of the designs themselves.
Notable Point · 1:56:46-1:57:43
Ki-61 identification and Japanese aircraft design
American crews mistook Ki-61 fighters for Bf 109s, an error that challenges the idea that Japanese aircraft were simply copies of foreign designs.