The following report on Japanese aircraft navigation originally appeared in Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 17, January 28, 1943. [DISCLAIMER: The following text is taken from the U.S. War Department publication Tactical and Technical Trends. As with all wartime intelligence information, data may be incomplete or inaccurate. No attempt has been made to update or correct the text. Any views or opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the website.]

JAPANESE "SLICK" NAVIGATION OVER WATER On a return flight to their carrier operating in the Pacific, U.S. Navy pilots noticed slicks on the water between the Japanese and U.S. forces. One pilot zoomed on one of the slicks. He discovered that it was an aluminum slick. Four of these slicks were observed. They were about 30 miles apart. The first one noticed was about 50 miles from the Japanese forces and the fourth one about 100 miles from our forces. The slicks were about 20 feet wide and 100 feet long. It has been suggested that these slicks were set down by the enemy to aid their pilots in their navigation to and/or from our forces on their attack missions.

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