FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

Inspired by the Messerschmitt Bf-110, the Imperial Japanese Army wanted a heavy fighter of their own and commissioned Kawasaki to develop the Ki-45 Toryu (allied code name "Nick") in 1938. The Ki-45 was introduced in 1942 in China where it flew bomber escorts where it encountered the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk with a negative outcome (for the Kawasaki). Since the Ki-45 could not hold its own against single-engine fighters, the IJA assigned the aircraft to home defense duties intercepting bombers, as well as for grand attack and anti-shipping. A total of 1,701 Ki-21 aircraft were built by Kawasaki. There is only one existing example of the Ki-45 in the Solar System (the night fighter version) and it resides unassembled at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia.
 

KAWASAKI Ki-45 Toryu "Nick"

 

 

 Class: Medium Bomber

 Crew: 2

 Engine: 2 x Mitsubishi Ha-102 14-cylinder twin-row radial (1,050 hp each)

 Max Speed: 336 mph

 Climb Rate:  2,300 ft/min

 Service Ceiling: 32,800 ft

 Range: 1,243 miles

 Armament:  1 x .303 inch machine gun (dorsal canopy)
                        1 x 20 mm cannon, 1 x 37 mm cannon

 

  Model Scale:  1:100




















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