Nakajima Ki-116
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The Nakajima Ki-116 was a late-World War II kamikaze aircraft developed for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. It was essentially a Ki-84 Hayate with the Nakajima Ha-45 engine replaced with a Mitsubishi Ha-112. The design was handled by Mansyu (満州) Aircraft, and thus it is often designated Mansyu Ki-116.
Background
By mid-1945 the military situation in Japan was extremely bad, having lost almost all of its once vast empire, the Japanese prepared for the decisive and most likely the last battle of World War 2. Unable to starve the Japanese home islands out the Americans would have to invade Japan and defeat its remaining military forces. In order to do this American soldiers and marines would have to land on Japanese soil from landing ships, therefore the Japanese decided that one of their main weapons would be the use of suicide aircraft. These suicide planes, known as Kamikaze, (divine Wind), had been used extensively in the Philippines and for the Battle of Okinawa using older but expensive Mitsubishi Zeros, excellent fighters which were not designed as suicide planes. Rather than waste the scarce and precious Zeros, the Japanese Military Aircraft Development Institute and companies such as Mitsubishi and Nakajima decided towards the war's end to design and build massive numbers of cheap, simple, and fast-to-produce specially designed suicide aircraft.
Aircraft design and characteristics
Along with planes such as Ohka and Nakajima Ki-115 simplicity was a high priority, unlike the Ohka flying bomb however speed was not necessary, the resulting design was as follows:
- 285 mph (460 km/h) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m)
- able to carry one 1000 kg bomb, (powerful enough to destroy any ship)
- construction time of 100 man hours
- 124 miles (200 km/h) range at 285 mph (460 km/h)
| Related content | |
|---|---|
| Related Development | Nakajima Ki-84 |
| Similar Aircraft | |
| Designation Series | Ki-113 - Ki-114 - Ki-115 - Ki-116 - Ki-117 - Ki-118 - Ki-119 |
| Related Lists | List of military aircraft of Japan |
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Lists of Aircraft | Aircraft manufacturers | Aircraft engines | Aircraft engine manufacturers
| Airlines | Air forces | Aircraft weapons | Missiles | Timeline of aviation |
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