The smallest operational formation followed attack practice. Three aircraft formed the minimum useful group for dive-bomber and torpedo-bomber attacks because their approaches could bracket a target. Larger formations were assembled from these three-aircraft elements, tying pilot organization to the geometry of a strike. Japanese units repeatedly used multiples of three for this reason, a tactical logic that Western squadron labels can obscure.
Notable Point · 1:03:36-1:05:13
Three-aircraft sections and attack geometry
Japanese dive-bomber and torpedo-bomber organization grew around three-aircraft sections that could bracket a target.