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Brief Aircraft History
The first Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu (dragon killer/slayer) prototype flew in 1939, a cantilever mid-wing monoplane with retractable tailwheel landing gear. A slender fuselage provided enclosed accommodation for two in tandem.
Problems followed with the engine installation, and it was not until September 1941 that the Ki-45 KAIa entered production. Armament of this initial series version comprised one forward-firing 20mm cannon, two 12.7mm machine-guns in the nose, and a 7.92mm machine-gun on a flexible mount in the rear cockpit; there was also provision to carry two drop tanks or two 250kg bombs on under-wing racks. This type entered service in August 1942 but was first used in combat during October 1942, soon being allocated the Allied codename "Nick". The Ki-45 KAIa was joined by a new version developed especially for the ground-attack/anti-shipping role, the Ki-45 KAIb. Standard armame nt comprised one 20mm cannon in the nose, a forward-firing 37mm cannon in the fuselage, and one rear-firing 7.92mm machine gun, plus the under-wing provision for drop tanks or bombs; a number of alternative weapon installations were tried experimentally, including the use of a 75mm cannon for attacks on shipping.
The Ki-45 KAIa was, for its day, heavily armed and proved quite effective against the USAF's Consolidated B-24 Liberators and when these bombers were used more extensively for night operations, the Ki-45 was adapted to attack them. This is when the night-fighting capability of the type was discovered, leading to development of the Ki-45 KAIc night-fighter that proved to be one of the most successful Japanese aircraft in this category. Ki-45 Toryu's remained in service until the end of the Pacific war, production totaling 1,701 including prototypes, being used for the defense of Tokyo, and in the Manchuria, Burma and Sumatra areas of operations.
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