64 HEAVY FIGHTERS OF WW2
J
apan’s most successful twin-engine
heavy fighter was the Kawasaki Ki-45,
poetically named Toryu (Dragon Slayer).
The Allies were a bit more prosaic in its
codename for the aircraft. They simply called
it ‘Nick’. Distinguished by its shark-like nose,
the Ki-45 was a sleek aircraft that proved a
menace to raiding B-29s.
With an eye on the emergence of heavy twin-
engined fighters in Europe, Japan decided that
it wanted its own ‘Messerschmitt Bf 110’. The
aircraft that was to become the Ki-45 had a long
development period and began life as the Ki-38.
However, this design only reached mock-up
stage before the Imperial Japanese Army issued
Kawasaki with a new specification in December
- Work began in January 1938, under the
control of Takeo Doi and followed standard
two-engine fighter design for the time. Engines
were mounted on a low-wing monoplane,
each engine on either side of the streamlined
fuselage. Accommodation consisted of two
personnel seating in a divided glazed canopy.
The first prototype proved to be disappointing
as the engines failed to produce their rated
power and large nacelles caused too much
drag. Work was suspended on the project until
April 1940 when the Army decided to revive
the Ki-45 using the 1,000hp Nakajima Ha-25
two-row 14 cylinder radial engine, with single-
stage superchargers. At the same time the basic
airframe was improved to feature a slimmer
fuselage, a redesigned tail, new wings with
straight edges (to replace the elliptical wing
of the prototypes) and smaller engine nacelles
mounted lower on the wing. The resulting
Ki-45 Kai solved most of the problems with the
design, and was ordered into production late
in 1941 as the Army Type 2 Two-seat Fighter
Model A Toryu (Dragon Slayer) or Ki-45 KAIa.
Armament of the base Ki-45 KAIa consisted of
one forward-firing 20mm cannon, two 12.7mm
(0.50in) machine guns mounted in the nose
and a single 7.92mm self-defence machine gun
in the rear cockpit position, making the Ki-45 a
most potent adversary.
The Ki-45 was initially used as a long-range
bomber escort, but it soon became clear that
it was easy prey for single-seat fighters such as
the P-40. Nevertheless it excelled in other duties
and the revised C-model went on to become
the definitive Ki-45 used for ground-attack,
anti-shipping and fleet defence. However,
its greatest strength turned out to be as aKawasaki Ki-45 Toryu
Above: Kawasaki Ki-45 KAIc of the 53rd Hiko
Sentai, showing the clear influence of the
Messerschmitt Bf 110 in its sleek design. Note the
twin obliquely-firing 20mm Ho-5 cannons behind
the cockpit which were a later addition to the
type and which represented a serious threat to
US B-29s.Right: Despite its fearsome name, the Toryu was
an easy target for agile single-seat fighters. This
downed Ki-45AIb carries the scars of an attack
by Allied fighters and is in the process of being
stripped of its components, its armamaent
having been already removed.Below: An RAF officer examining a Japanese
Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu fighter/ground attack
aircraft (known to the Allies as a ‘Nick’). This
was one of a number of aircraft abandoned at
Kallang Airport, Singapore.