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22-603: The Ki-67 was the result of a 1941 Japanese army specification for a successor to the Nakajima Ki-49 "storm dragon". This new aircraft was specified to be a high-speed twin-engined heavy bomber suitable for possible conflicts with the Soviet Union over the Manchuria - Siberia border, and unlike many Japanese warplanes, was required to have good defensive armament and the ability to survive heavy battle damage. It

44-420: A longer barrel. It was ultimately determined to be unsuitable in a flexible defensive role due to its weight compared to existing alternatives; the 13.2mm Type 3 weighed almost 28 kg (62 lb), heavier than the 20mm Type 99-1 Mod.1 autocannon at 23 kg (51 lb). The flexible version was ultimately rejected in favour of the lighter Type 2 machine gun . This article relating to machine guns

66-511: A maximum load; when they did, their range was reduced significantly. Japanese aircraft almost invariably had greater range with their rated maximum load; this gave them a strategic capability unlike that of Allied twin-engine bombers, which were considered tactical bombers. The Ki-67's performance was remarkable compared to US medium bombers; the Ki-67 had a level-flight top speed of 537 km/h (334 mph) - against 443 km/h (275 mph) for

88-572: The Donryu to be underpowered, with bomb capacity and speed suffering as a result. Thus, in the spring of 1942 an up-engined version was produced, fitted with more powerful Ha-109 engines and this became the production Army Type 100 Heavy Bomber Model 2 or Ki-49-IIa . The Model 2 also introduced improved armor and self-sealing fuel tanks and was followed by the Ki-49-IIb in which 12.7 mm (0.5 in) Ho-103 machine guns replaced three of

110-700: The Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in 1938 . Learning from service trials of the Ki-21, the Army realized that however advanced it may have been at the time of its introduction, its new Mitsubishi bomber would in due course be unable to operate without fighter escorts. The Japanese Army stipulated that its replacement should have the speed and defensive weaponry to enable it to operate independently. The prototype first flew in August 1939 and

132-647: The Ryukyu Islands . It was later used at Okinawa , in Mainland China , French Indochina , Karafuto and against B-29 airfields in Saipan and Tinian . One special ground-strike version used in the Giretsu missions was a Ki-67 I with three remote-control 20 mm cannons angled at 30° for firing toward the ground, a 20 mm cannon in the tail, 13.2 mm (.51 in) Type 3 machine guns in

154-466: The 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Type 89 machine guns . In spite of these improvements, losses continued to mount as the quantity and quality of fighter opposition rose. In early 1943 further power increases were delayed owing to development difficulties with the 1,805 kW (2,421 hp) Nakajima Ha-117 engines and the Ki-49-III never entered production with only six prototypes being built. In

176-619: The B-25, 462 km/h (287 mph) for the B-26, and 538 km/h (338 mph) for the A-20 -, good manoeuvrability in high-speed dives (up to 644 km/h/400 mph), excellent sustained rate of climb, and outstanding agility (excellent turn rate, small turn radius, and ability to turn at low speeds). The manoeuvrability of the Ki-67 was so good that the Japanese used the design as the basis for

198-675: The Ki-67 was perhaps one of the most sturdy and damage-resistant Japanese aircraft of World War II. The Ki-67's bomb load of 1,070 kg (2,360 lb) carried in its internal bomb bay would classify it as a medium bomber for the US. The North American B-25 Mitchell could carry up to 2,722 kg (6,000 lb), the Martin B-26 Marauder up to 1,814 kg (4,000 lb), and the Douglas A-20 Havoc up to 907 kg (2,000 lb), for example, but they rarely carried

220-644: The Mitsubishi Ki-109 twin-engine fighter, originally designed as a night fighter , and later for use as a daylight heavy fighter . In the last stages of World War II, the Japanese Navy also used the design as the basis for the Mitsubishi Q2M 1 " Taiyo " radar -equipped anti-submarine aircraft . Armament of the Ki-67 included a dorsal turret with a 20 mm (.79 in) Ho-5 cannon , in addition to 12.7 mm (.50 in) Ho-103 machine guns in

242-512: The Pacific War, and Axis Aircraft of World War II General characteristics Performance Armament Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Type 3 aircraft machine gun The Type 3 13 mm fixed aircraft machine gun ( Japanese : 三式三十粍固定機銃 , romanized :  San shiki jyū-san mirimētoru kōtei kijū ) was a Japanese Navy aircraft machine gun used during World War II . It

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264-887: The aircraft. Eventually in March 1941 , the Donryu went into production as the Army Type 100 Heavy Bomber Model 1 . Going operational from autumn 1941, the Ki-49 first saw service in China . After the outbreak of the Pacific War it was also active in the New Guinea area and in raids on Australia . Like the prototype, these early versions were armed with five 7.7 mm (0.303 in) machine guns and one 20 mm (0.787 in) cannon. Combat experience in China and New Guinea showed

286-408: The development programme continued through three prototypes and seven pre-production aircraft. This first prototype was powered by a pair of 708 kW (949 hp) Nakajima Ha-5 KA-I radial engines but the next two had the 932 kW (1,250 hp) Nakajima Ha-41 engines that were intended for the production version. Seven more prototypes were built and these completed the test programme for

308-576: The end of World War II, 767 Ki-67s had been produced. Other sources relate that 698 Ki-67's were manufactured, excluded the KAI and Sakura-dan conversions. Data from Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Nakajima Ki-49 The Nakajima Ki-49 Donryu (呑龍, "Storm Dragon")

330-468: The face of its increasing vulnerability to opposing fighter aircraft while performing its intended role, the Ki-49 was used in other roles towards the end of the Pacific War, including anti-submarine warfare patrol, troop transport and as a kamikaze . After 819 aircraft had been completed, production ended in December 1944. 50 of these were built by Tachikawa . Data from Japanese Aircraft of

352-540: The initial production variant could carry only 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) of bombs. A mid-wing, cantilever monoplane of all-metal construction, the Ki-49 was one of the first Japanese aircraft fitted with a retractable tailwheel . During World War II, it was known to the Allies by the reporting name " Helen ". The Ki-49 was designed to replace the Mitsubishi Ki-21 ("Sally"), which entered service with

374-616: The lateral and upper positions, and more fuel capacity. Even with more fuel, the Giretsu missions were one-way only because of the long range. In the last stages of World War II, special attack versions of the Ki-67 (the I KAI and Sakura-dan models) were used in kamikaze missions. (References include information from Lt. Sgt. Seiji Moriyama, a crew member in Fugaku Special Attack Unit, who witnessed Ki-67's being converted into To-Gō suicide planes with two 800 kg/1,760 lb bombs during Okinawa operations.) By

396-580: The tail, nose, and beam positions. Some aircraft were fitted with a 20 mm gun in the tail position, and early models used 7.7 mm (.303in) Type 89 machine guns in the beam positions. The Ki-67 was used for level bombing and torpedo bombing (it could carry one torpedo attached under the fuselage). The Ki-67 was initially used by the Japanese Army and Navy Air Services against the US Third Fleet during its strikes against Formosa and

418-407: Was a twin-engine Japanese World War II heavy bomber . It was designed to carry out daylight bombing missions, without the protection of escort fighters . Consequently, while its official designation, Army Type 100 Heavy Bomber , was accurate in regard to its formidable defensive armament and armor, these features restricted the Ki-49 to payloads comparable to those of lighter medium bombers –

440-556: Was also required to be highly maneuverable allowing it to carry out dive-bombing attacks and escape at low level. The Ki-67 was designed by a team led by Kyūnojō Ozawa, chief engineer at Mitsubishi, and was a mid-winged monoplane of all-metal construction, with a retractable tailwheel undercarriage . It was fitted with self-sealing fuel tanks and armor , features common in US fighters and bombers but frequently lacking in Japanese aircraft. With these features and its two 1,417 kW (1,900 hp) 18-cylinder air-cooled radial engines ,

462-680: Was based on the American M2 Browning machine gun but used the 13.2x99mm Hotchkiss cartridge. The Type 3 was derived from the .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning but chambered for the slightly larger 13.2×99mm Hotchkiss round, the same cartridge as the Hotchkiss M1929 machine gun and the Imperial Japanese military's licensed version, the Type 93 heavy machine gun . Despite the small difference in calibers, it

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484-568: Was possible to use M2 Browning cartridges in the Japanese machine gun, which ostensibly occurred during World War II. The machine gun was produced from 1943 to 1945. The fixed version was used on later models of the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter and prototypes of the Kawanishi N1K Shiden Kai. The Type 3 was trialled for flexible defensive fixtures as well as fixed offensive ones. The flexible version featured

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