The Japanese Third Air Army (第3èª空è»Â, Kà Âkà « gun) was formed on 23 July 1942 and headquartered at Singapore until the end of World War 2, when it was disbanded. Its final commander was Satoshi Kinoshita. Its units consisted of the 5th, 9th and 55th Air Divisions. The 3rd Air Army was responsible for South East Asia.
The 3rd Air Army in December 1941 consisted of the following units:
The 3rd Air Army was tasked with defending the oil fields and refineries at Palembang as well as supporting operation in the Dutch East Indies, Burma, Thailand, and French Indo-China.
The Air Army (èª空è»Â, Kà Âkà « gun) was made up of two or more Air Corps (é£Âè¡ÂéÂÂå£, Hikà  Shudan (renamed Air Divisions (é£Âè¡Â師å£, Hikà  Shidan in 1942) plus some Independent Units. Each Air Division consisted of an Air Brigade (é£Âè¡Âå£, Hikà Âdan) together with base and support units and a number of Independent Squadrons. Each Air Brigade had two or more Air Combat Groups (Air Combat Group (é£Âè¡Âæ¦éÂÂ, Hikà  Sentai). The Air Combat Group was a single-purpose unit consisting typically of three Squadrons (é£Âè¡ÂéÂÂ, Hikà Âtai), divided into three flights (å°ÂéÂÂ, shà Âtai) of three aircraft each.
In 1944 the Air Combat Groups were redesignated Squadrons (é£Âè¡ÂéÂÂ, Hikà Âtai).