While not as numerous as other nations' airborne forces, Japan's separate Army and Navy paratroop units reached a strength of approximately 18,000 men. They carried out several pioneering operations in Sumatra and Burma during the invasions of 1942 and in Leyte and Okinawa during the defensive fighting of 1944-45. Nothing authoritative has been published on this subject since a reprint, in 1973, of a US Military Intelligence booklet of 1945. This title corrects and expands on that information, covering formation, training, organization, doctrine, tactics, aircraft, uniforms, weapons and equipment, as well as the actual operations that were fought by these elite forces.