Japanese air attacks on the Mariana Islands and anti-aircraft guns shot down about 37 Japanese aircraft during these raids. After the Marianas began to come under attack, the United States military stepped up its raids on the Japanese-held islands which could be used to launch raids on the B-29 bases. Particular attention was given to Iwo Jima, as it was correctly assumed that the Japanese aircraft which attacked the Marianas were flying from Japan and staging through the island en route to their targets. Following the first raid against Saipan in November, XXI Bomber Command B-29s were dispatched against Iwo Jima's airfields on November 5 and 8.
Japanese air attacks on the Mariana Islands the operation was not called off after this raid, it did not go ahead after the Japanese surrender on 15 August. The Japanese military also developed a plan to attack Saipan using Mitsubishi Ki-167 suicide aircraft during August, but nothing came of this. The Japanese attacks on the Mariana Islands during 1944 and 1945 did not seriously disrupt the USAAF's strategic air campaign against Japan. They did, however, force the United States to allocate forces to defend the islands in order to prevent further losses of expensive B-29s. Moreover, due to the high cost of the heavy bombers, the ratio