ki-45 otsu armament

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by major.kudo

I forgot to tell.
Ki-45Kai has each one hardpoint under the main wings.
These could suspend propellant tank, or the cluster bomb called "TA munition" could be loaded.

The hard points could also be used to carry conventional (up to 250 kg each) bombs.

All but the night fighter version of the Otsu, and late versions of the Tei, also carried flexible, rear-firing 7.9 mm Type 98 machine gun.

Some later factory-built Night Fighter versions (Hei according to Major.Kudo's diagram, possibly described as late Otsu in other books) didn't have nose guns because it was intended that radar be mounted there. But only a few were equipped with it.

There were a number of field mods that aren't specifically described in the Francillon book, so I guess that the Toryu could carry just about any suitable gun in the IJAF arsenal.

There is also confusion between what counts as the "Otsu" vs. "Hei" versions. Older Western sources sometimes mistake Otsu for Hei or Tei versions, or substitute a Latin letter for the appropriate Japanese character when indicating production block. I'd trust the Bunrindo book over Francillon.

a = ko
b = otsu
c = hei
d = tei
improved = kai

[shelby]

Did some planes of the ko and otsu versions have machine guns in the roof?

[major.kudo]

Originally Posted by shelby

Did some planes of the ko and otsu versions have machine guns in the roof?

Upper gun was distributed and Attached by the conversion kit called "Tei Equipment".
When this was Attached in the "Hei" of existence, that was "Tei".
Conversion kit isn't used and it's said that there was also a produced plane as "Tei" from the beginning.

Maybe "Tei Equipment" distribution was performed after "Hei" becomes general.
However, at least one picture of "Ko" with Upper gun is exists.
But guns are Ho-103.
I have never seen a picture of the "Otsu" with Upper gun.

Only 10 planes of "Tei" equipped with "TaKi-4" radar was produced.
Pursuivant also says it too, a nose of a plane becomes glazed and there not have nose gun.

[Pursuivant]

Like Major.Kudo says.

FWIW, Francillon says that an unspecified number of Ki-45 (probably of what he calls the Ki-45KAIb block) were field modified to carry oblique firing cannons. That's the field modified nightfighter version in my chart.

The conversion proved successful, so some or all of the next production block were built as night fighters.

The next block after that was built as an anti-shipping version, but some were also fitted as night fighters.

If you've trying to create night fighter variant of the Ki-45, I think that you've got five options:

Field modified Ki-45 Ko (possibly Otsu), possibly with rear MG
Ki-45 Hei early with 2 x Ho-103 cannon, possibly with rear MG
Ki-45 Hei late with 2 x Ho-5 20mm cannon, no rear MG
Ki-45 Tei (modified from Hei) as Tei, but no nose guns, 2 x Ho-5 20 mm cannon in oblique mount.
Ki-45 Tei (modified from Hei) as above, but TaKi-4 centimetric radar installed in nose.

Of the list above, I think that the "definitive" Ki-45 night fighter version would probably be the Ki-45 Hei late production block, without radar.

But, my understanding is that there were many field mods to the Ki-45 since it was such a versatile aircraft, and because isolated IJAF units had to improvise. So, any night fighter variant of what IL2 calls the Otsu, with 2 oblique-mounted Ho-103 or Ho-105 cannons, will probably be realistic, or at least "realistic enough."

[shelby]

yes but i think all the night fighters variants remained on paper because the j1n was produced

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by shelby

yes but i think all the night fighters variants remained on paper because the j1n was produced

Actually, no.

According to Francillon, which is still probably the best book on Japanese WW2 aircraft in English, Ki-45 units in the SW Pacific made an unspecified number of field modified night fighters to counter night raids by USAAF B-24 bombers.

Those conversions worked well enough that about 200 night fighters were produced at the factory when the next production block was introduced. Those would be the Hei version according to Major.Kudo and the Bunrindo book, or whatever the variant is without the nose guns according to Francillon.

While the Tei version was mostly intended as an anti-shipping/heavy fighter, it appears that at least a few were converted to night fighters in an attempt to counter the B-29 raids on the Japanese Home Islands. I'm not sure how many, though.

But, you're correct that the version of the Ki-45 which was optimized as a single seat interceptor/night fighter got turned into its own project, which was called the Ki-96 by the IJAAF.

The J1N Gekko/Irving was a different aircraft, produced by a different manufacturer (the N stands for Nakajima, Kawasaki didn't produce aircraft for the IJN) for the IJNAF. It was built at approximately the same time as the Ki-45, but since the Japanese Army and Navy didn't get along at all, and had separate procurement systems, it was very unusual for them to use the same models of aircraft.

[major.kudo]

I don't think only the J1N was very excellent as a night fighter.
Japanese navy's FD-2 radar was low performance, and it was the degree which can rarely detect B-29 ahead of the 3km.
Though an antenna was being equipped in the J1N, there even was planes onto which radar isn't carrying.

Army was experimenting on the latest at Ki-45Kai"Bo" and other types for "Taki" radar loaded, but these has not been completed. The performance of "TaKi" was similar to FD-2.

The Japanese couldn't complete the night fighter which becomes a definitive edition until the end of war.
The army and a navy threw every plane which can catch up to intercept B-29.