Aichi M6A Seiran

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The Aichi M6A Seiran (晴嵐, Clear Sky Storm) is a submarine-launched attack floatplane designed and produced by the Japanese aircraft manufacturer Aichi Kokuki KK. It was operated solely by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. The M6A is the only floatplane to have been designed primarily to perform offensive missions. The M6A was developed during the early 1940s to be the airborne component of the IJN's envisioned fleet of submarine aircraft carriers, specifically the I-400 class submarine. It was envisioned that submarine-launched M6As would conduct surprise aerial attacks against various Allied targets, including the Panama Canal, American aircraft carriers operating at Ulithi Atoll, and coastal cities on the continental United States. Work on the M6A commenced after it proved untenable to adapt the existing Yokosuka D4Y dive bomber to perform the mission; the aircraft's design, such as its folding wing and foldable tail unit, was shaped by the limited dimensions of the...

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