>>23353717
That's presumably what he was, considering his similarity to the Getter Noir trio, although unlike the clones working for the Emperor in the future he doesn't seem to know anything about that.

He just knew it was that Shin Getter Tarak that allowed him to return. His memories go from flying to Mars to suddenly waking up in the Tarak during Arc, basically treating himself as a dead man walking and that as borrowed time, which is part of why he's so willing to sacrifice himself for the team.