Manchukuo Air Force

Manchukuo Imperial Air Force
大満州帝国空軍 Dai Manshū Teikoku Kūgun
Pilots of the Manchukuo Air Force
Active	1937–1945
Country	Manchukuo
Role	Air force
Size	35+ aircraft
Garrison/HQ	Hsinking
Colors	Yellow, blue, white
Anniversaries	September 20 (Aviation Day)
Engagements	Second Sino-Japanese War World War II
Commanders
Ceremonial chief	Kangde Emperor
Insignia
Roundel

The Manchukuo Imperial Air Force (Chinese: 大満州帝国空軍; pinyin: Dà Mǎnzhōu Dìguó Kōngjūn) was the air force of the Empire of Manchukuo, a puppet state of Imperial Japan. The air force's predecessor was the Manchukuo Air Transport Company (later renamed the Manchukuo National Airways), a paramilitary airline formed in 1931, which undertook transport and reconnaissance missions for the Japanese military.

Since the creation of the state in 1932, an airline called the Manchukuo Paramilitary Airline operated as a fleet of transports, consisting mainly of passenger aircraft. The only military action it saw was providing support to the Inner Mongolian Army during the Suiyuan Campaign in 1936. An "independent volunteer battalion" which included thirteen planes assisted the Inner Mongolian troops in their attempt to drive the Nationalists out of the Suiyuan province. The official Manchukuo Air Force was not established until February 1937, when thirty volunteers from the Manchukuo Imperial Army were sent to Harbin for training. Initially the Kwantung Army commanders did not trust the Manchukuoans enough to give them an independent air arm and the early air force consisted of mostly Japanese pilots.

Starting out with just one Nieuport-Delage NiD 29, first air unit was based in Hsinking. They were soon expanded with the addition of Nakajima Army Type 91 Fighters and Kawasaki Type 88 light bombers. A second air unit was formed in Fengtien and a third was formed in Harbin between 1938–39, and in July 1940 a Manchukuo Air Defense headquarters was established in Hsinking. At that time the Japanese finally decided to give the state its own air force with Manchukuoan pilots and more modern aircraft. A flying school was opened in Mukden for both military and civil pilots as part of this effort. This program suffered a major setback when one hundred Manchukuoan pilots rebelled and tried to join the guerrillas after murdering their Japanese instructors. Nonetheless the project to create an air force for Manchukuo continued. Three fighter squadrons were formed from cadets in 1942.