622nd Naval Air Hikotai

The 622nd Naval Air Squadron (622飛行隊) is a Yamatai Imperial Navy carrier-based fighter squadron based at Awara Naval Base. They are permanently attached to the aircraft carrier Ibuki, and they fly the Kawazaki Ki-62 Tengu II.

Post-war
The 622nd Squadron was one of the four Yamataian carrier-based fighter squadrons to survive the war and the post-war unit consolidations, along with the 601st, 607th, and 618th Squadrons. The 622nd absorbed the 623rd, 627th, and 630th Training Squadron, though these units had by this point been reduced largely to administrative functions.

The only Yamataian aircraft carrier to survive the war was the Hotaru, which was slated to be scrapped. As such, the remaining Yamataian carrier-based fighter squadrons were stationed on land and devolved into largely administrative and training units until the Dai Hoa Unification War, when the 601st and 607th Squadrons were deployed on Hotaru to contribute to the fighting in Nanyokuni. The 622nd Squadron did not deploy during the war and was re-designated as a training unit for the carrier-based aircraft that were purchased from Chisei.

As carrier-based specialists, the 622nd, along with the 601st and 607th, were retained by the Imperial Navy after all land-based aircraft squadrons of both the Navy and the Army were consolidated into the newly-formed Yamatai Air Defence Force in 1965. The 622nd was designated the official training squadron for the Imperial Navy's carrier-based fighters.

From 1975 to 1985, the 622nd Squadron formed a training partnership with the Meridonian 60 NFS, which was the first Meridonian squadron to use the Kawazaki Ki-40 Tengu V/STOL carrier-based fighter. This training period continued during the Kuijuan War. The two naval fighter units continue to have close ties to this day, a fact that contributes to the good bilateral ties between Yamatai and Meridon.

In 2001, the 622nd Squadron was reinstated as a combat squadron, flying the new Ki-62 Tengu II V/STOL multirole fighter and attached to the Yumiori. Carrier-based aircraft training was taken over by the newly-established Imperial Navy Carrier-Based Fighter Training Squadron.

2010 Masukan War
Along with the carrier Yumiori, the 622nd Squadron participated in the 2010 Masukan War. Due to the absence of major enemy air opposition, the 622nd Squadron mainly carried out close air support for ground operations, providing aerial cover for the Yamatai Special Naval Landing Force naval infantry as they made their landings on the 12th of April.

On the 26th of April, Yumiori was struck by an enemy anti-ship missile due to a combination of factors. Three personnel of the 622nd were killed immediately; CMDR Minami Koji, who was struck by a piece of shrapnel while he was observing the flight deck from the island, LTA Iseri Takehiko, who was in the cockpit of his fighter on the flight deck and was directly above the explosion of the missile, and PO2 Suto Minori, who was removing the stepladder from LTA Iseri's fighter. LCDR Sato Chieko, who was also on the flight deck and close to the blast, was heavily wounded and later died of her wounds. 15 other personnel from the 622nd were also injured from the blast, with another seven wounded in the coming hours.

Two of the 622nd's fighters that were on the flight deck were destroyed by the attack. Five more aircraft were destroyed by the fire that developed in the hangar deck. LCDR Shimamoto Hiroki and LTA Sugimoto Jun, who were returning to Yumiori from an airstrike mission against Masukan artillery positions, were redirected to land on the Chiseian carrier Kamushain and initially did not know about the attack until several hours later.

To this day, the 622nd always flies an aerial salute in the at the annual memorial ceremony for the crewmembers lost in the Yumiori attack, held at Awara Naval Base every 26th of April.

Post-Masukan War
After the loss of the Yumiori, the 622nd Squadron was re-assigned to the aircraft carrier Ibuki, which was under construction at the time. A modified, the Ibuki represented a shift in the Yamataian Navy's carrier strategy and the 622nd began training to operate from the ski-jump using a special mockup built at the Imperial Air Force's Suiyokuni Airbase.

In 2014, LCDR Tokunaga Sora of the 622nd carried out the first takeoff from the Ibuki's ski-jump at a ceremony marking the operational status of the carrier Ibuki and the 622nd Squadron. The 622nd also officially changed its nickname from "Sea Hawks" to "Sea Hydra", a reference to the unit's survival of the Yumiori incident, as the mythical aquatic creature from Amphian lore is known for its ability to survive and emerge stronger from decapitation.

Aircraft operated


The 622nd Squadron historically operated the carrier-based fighter during the Second Escar-Varunan War. They continued to operate these fighters long after the war, until Chiseian carrier-based aircraft were purchased during the Dai Hoa Unification War, in 1957.

In 1974, the 622nd were the first Imperial Navy unit to begin operating the Kawazaki Ki-40 Tengu V/STOL carrier-based fighter, as part of its role as an evaluation and training unit. The unit continued to operate these fighters until they were retired in 2006, converting to the Ki-62 Tengu II V/STOL carrier-based fighter.