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Ki-45 "Toryu"

Night Heavy Fighter

Kawasaki

Ki-45 Night Heavy Fighter, Toryu, Kawasaki

Ki-45 Night Heavy Fighter, Toryu, Kawasaki

The Ki-45, the Toryu (Dragon Slayer) heavy twin-engined fighter, designed according to the 1937 technical assignment, has become one of the most important combat aircraft of the Japanese Air Force.

The first 6 prototypes and 12 pre-production vehicles were tested in January 1939, but the vehicle had to be refined before the aircraft was adopted. Only in the fall of 1942, the Toryu, equipped with Na-25 1050 hp radial engines, began to enter service with the Japanese Air Force as the Ki-45 KAI-a fighter and the Ki-45 KAI-b multipurpose anti-ship aircraft.

The next modification of the Ki-45 KAI-c was a night fighter and was powered by a Mitsubishi engine.

The latest modification - Ki-45 KAI-d - was again an assault and anti-ship aircraft with modified armament and the ability to carry 500 kg of bombs. 477 Ki-45 KAI-c night fighters and 1198 vehicles of the other three modifications combined were manufactured.

Ki-45 'Toryu' Specification
Ki-45KAIa Ki-45KAIc
Crew 2 2
Dimensions
Wing span, m 15,0 15,0
Wing area, m² 32 32
Length, m 10,6 11,0
Height, m 3,7 3,7
Powerplant
2×PE, hp Na-25/1050 Na-102/1080
Weight, kg:
Empty weight 3695 3995
Maximum takeoff weight 5276 5493
Performance
Speed, km/h maximum 547 540
at altitude, m 7000 6000
Time to 5000m, min 6.3 7.0
Service ceiling, m 10,730 10,000
Service range, km 2260 2000
Armament
1×37-mm cannon, 2×20-mm cannon и 7.92-mm machine guns, external bomb load, kg 500 500

                                                                                                                                                                                                              
Photo Description
Drawing Ki-45-KAIc Drawing Ki-45-KAIc

Ki-45 Toryu

Ki-45 "Toryu".

Ki-44-II

Cannon fighter and attack plane Kawasaki Ki-45 «Toryu» («Nick») was abandoned in damaged condition at the Mukden airfield.

Bibliography

  • "Encyclopedia of military engineering " /Aerospace Publising/
  • "Japan Warplanes of World War II" /Oleg Doroshkevich/