Japanese Bristol Blenheim Mk.I

[Grzegames]

Would you like to see this in-game?

• Yes
• No

Japanese Bristol Blenheim Mk.I
In late 1941 and early 1942, the Japanese captured a small number of Bristol Blenheim Mk.I and Mk.IV bombers at Seltar (Singapore), Sungei Patani (Malay Peninsula) and airfields on other Pacific islands (mainly the Dutch East Indies). These aircraft have been tested.
History
In 1939, the British, fearing a Japanese invasion, sent to Singapore and Malaya, first No. 34 and No. 62 Squadrons RAF, then in 1940 No. 60 Squadron RAF and in 1941 No. 27 Squadron RAF. All these squadrons were equipped with Bristol Blenheim aircraft in the Mk. I or Mk.IV version. When Japan started the war in the Pacific on December 8, 1941, all four squadrons immediately began hostilities. By the end of 1941, No. 62 Squadron RAF, suffering high losses, withdrew to Sumatra, where it was rearmed with Lockheed Hudson aircraft, then after the Japanese landed on Java, the squadron was disbanded. No. 34 Squadron RAF was disbanded after two months of fighting due to huge losses, No. 27 Squadron RAF fought fiercely for Singapore and then in Java where it was disbanded, picking up huge losses. No. 60 Squadron RAF was the only one not to be disbanded, but due to losses it lost operational capability and was sent to India. Thanks to these successes, the Japanese captured a large number of Bristol Blenheim aircraft over these four squadrons, most of which were not operational. Probably the Japanese managed to repair 5 or 6 Blenheim Mk.I and Mk.IV aircraft. These aircraft were then put under the magnifying glass of the Institute of Technical Research of Military Aviation, which opened its additional test facility in Singapore, like any other captured aircraft. There, during tests, it was shown that these planes had very poor performance and it was decided to use them as transport aircraft. For this purpose, all armament was removed. It is interesting that one Bristol Blenheim Mk.I and two Mk. IVs were laid in Java until 1945 for this purpose.

Photos of British Bristol Blenheim (27, 34, 60, 62 Squadrons RAF)

Photos of Japanese Bristol Blenheim Mk.I

Bristol Blenheim Mk.I shortly after captured by the Japanese in 1941/1942 ^

A Japanese Bristol Blenheim Mk.I on Java in August 1947 ^

Art about the Japanese Bristol Blenheim Mk.I

Technical description
The Bristol Blenheim Mk.I is a light twin-engine medium-wing bomber with a partially retractable main landing gear. The plane is equipped with a characteristic glass nose. The crew of the aircraft consists of three people: pilot, bombardier/navigator and rear gunner/radio operator. The aircraft is powered by two 840 hp (630 kW) Bristol Mercury VIII engines, which drive three-bladed propellers. The aircraft was armed with a fixed 7.7mm Browning or Vickers Mk.V machine gun in the left wing and a mobile 7.7mm Lewis or Vickers K machine gun in a turret on the back. The aircraft could carry up to 1000 lb (454 kg) of bombs in the bomb bay.

Technical sketches

Cockpit Photos

General characteristics

• Crew: 3
• Length: 12,12 m
• Wingspan: 17,17 m
• Height: 3,91 m
• Wing area: 43,57 m2
• Empty weight: 3674 kg
• Take-off Weight: 5670 kg
• Powerplant: 2 × Bristol Mercury VIII with a take-off power of 840 hp (630 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 426 km/h
• Cruise Speed: 354 km/h
• Range: 1802 km
• Service ceiling: 7772 m
• Time to Climb to: 11,5 min to 4572 m

Armament

1. Guns:

• 1 x 7.7mm Browning or Vickers Mk.V fixed machine gun in left wing
• 1 x 7.7mm Lewis or Vickers K movable machine gun in turret on the back

2. Bombs:

• Maximum payload: 1000 pounds (454 kg) of bombs

Special thanks

• @skultew1234

Summary
The Bristol Blenheim Mk.I would have been an interesting aircraft for Japan in War Thunder. This fast bomber would make a great Premium or event vehicle that would introduce some British technology to Japan. Ideally, it would be added with the addition of the British and Finnish Bristol Blenheim Mk.I . I encourage you to discuss in the comments and to share your own knowledge on this subject.
Finally, I apologize for the linguistic and logical errors because unfortunately English is not my main language and I had to use google translator

Internet sources

Bristol Blenheim - Wikipedia
ブリストル ブレニム - Wikipedia
Facebook
Japan Bristol Blenheim Mk I - Nevington War Museum
Aviation of Japan 日本の航空史: Japanese Blenheims at Semarang, Java
War Machines Drawn: Bristol Blenheim, foreign users, part one
Bristol Blenheim in Japanese Service - Destination’s Journey
Bristol Blenheim Mk.I : Bristol
Уголок неба ¦ Bristol Blenheim
Bristol Blenheim MK.1 - Passed for Consideration - War Thunder - Official Forum

Book sources

• 日本軍鹵獲機秘録 (Secret records of captured aircraft of the Japan army) page 48
• 敵機解剖 : 大東亜戦・鹵獲・撃墜撃破飛行機写真集 - NDL Digital Collections

Thank you for reading the suggestion, see you in the next one. Good luck pilots

[jon_man1199]

Eh, why not? A +1 from me as a premium

[Teh0]

Finnish tree should definitely have Blenheim. It was the FAF main bomber after all. They bought 42 and license build 55, reaching total of 97. They were of course used against Soviets until autumn 1944 and in Lapland War against Germans.

[HolmanTheHorror]

-1. Japan doesn’t need it, and all it would serve to do is be copy paste. Yes, it isn’t in the game right now, but if it were ever to be added it would have to be included in at least the British tech tree as well, unless you want to argue that Japan, somehow, is more appropriate for the aircraft then those who actually built and used it.

[Grzegames]

Here is my opinion about it

@Grzegames

This fast bomber would make a great Premium or event vehicle that would introduce some British technology to Japan. Ideally, it would be added with the addition of the British and Finnish Bristol Blenheim Mk.I .

[StormRyder13]

+1 as BP/Event as it’s captured.

[HolmanTheHorror]

And that addresses my issues how? Japan still doesn’t need it and it would still be a copy paste aircraft.

If you want to play around with British technology, play the British tech tree.

[Grzegames]

I play the British in addition to playing Japan, and I also play the US, USSR, Germany, and France. I like the Blenheim MK IV, but I don’t like the British fighters. So I’d like to combine the great Japanese fighters and the British bomber.

[PolikarpovStrong]

Ignoring some of the issues with the photos - the fictional profile drawing and the Mark IV cockpit labeled as a 1 -

As a HUGE Blenheim fan, no. France and Finland would be way more deserving of a Blenheim, for one, and for two, if you add this you then can make the case for Italian (Captured, Romanian Use, AND Hungarian use), German, and potentially other trees as well. We don’t even have a functional Mark IV model after all these years, let’s not continue to bloat the game with ineffective slop.

[SinisterIsRandom]

Okay, and what would you suggest then? Japan is lacking in every single department, from ups and downs, and is one of the, if not the most, neglected nations in the game when it comes to the 2nd world War.
Despite being extremely rich with things they studied to things they produced yet Gaijin hasn’t bothered to add any.
The only things we’ve gotten are for a gamemode with one of the lowest pop caps in WT. It’s inexcusable.

[PolikarpovStrong]

Nah, that’s just a poor take. Not every country needs to have 6 vehicles per patch dude. Some countries simply had less, refusing to hunt to the ends of the earth to add meaningless vehicles that bloat trees, won’t be played for more than a game (if at all), and in this case have SEVERAL better applications is not neglect, it’s common sense.

[CharAznable3]

It would be fun to have in the tree as a low tier premium. I would like a meme line up that is basically a thief line up.

[Grzegames]

I understand your point; the british, and especially the Finns, deserve their Bristol Blenheim Mk.Is more. I wouldn’t mind if the Japanese version was a skin for the british version.

And if I may ask, which sketch is the fake exactly?

[GibProject68U2]

gib pretty cool

[SinisterIsRandom]

Ground Units:
Japan: 78 ground vehicles. 21 of those were from WW2 and domestically produced.
Russia in-game currently: 97. WW2 era vehicles.

Now I could count every USSR/Russian air vehicle from the 2nd world War, but my argument still stands. So, no, it’s not a poor take; the USSR/Russian tech tree in War Thunder gets priority over trees like Japan and undermines a lot of our effort to research it. Simply because it’s passed on and ignored.
While the next update, you guys get several vehicles within the same time span from that or the previous lists.

If Gaijin purposely stopped adding vehicles to that tree, you would get pissy and more annoyed when other trees get stuff for the next several updates.