MXY4

The Kugisho MXY4 was a Japanese WWII unmanned aerial vehicle. The MXY4 was built with a low wing structure and a wooden structure. The flight of the prototype took place in 1940, and mass production started shortly after. The drive was provided by a single 32 HP Nihon Semi 11 engine. The aircraft was 7 meters long with a wingspan of 10 meters. The Kugisho MXY4 was developed by order of the Imperial Japanese Navy as a flying target for shooting exercises for fighter pilots. It was developed to replace the failed MXY3 glider dedicated to the same tasks. Compared to its predecessor, it differed in many elements. First of all, it had a power unit, it was built in a low wing configuration, not a high wing like the MXY3, it was also significantly larger than it. It also had a fixed float undercarriage. However, it was still assumed that it would be lifted into the air by an airplane and later radio-guided by an operator from the ground. In practice, the MXY4 - like the MXY3 - worked with the Kawanishi E7K1 seaplane.