In the immediate aftermath of World War II, multiple experimental Japanese tanks disappeared with little trace. Due to the widespread stories (perhaps overblown in this regard) of the Japanese armed forces disposing of secret weapons prior to American occupation, it is generally assumed that this was their fate. Still, there are a few cases of…
The Type 98 Light Tank (Ke-Ni) was developed as the successor to the Japanese Army’s primary light tank, the Type 95 Light Tank (Ha-Gō). Ordered into development in 1938 with the first prototypes appearing in late 1939, the Type 98 Light Tank was a significant improvement over its predecessor in every respect. It featured thicker…
It is well established that the performance of Japanese aircraft engines in WWII was limited by the suboptimal fuels available at the time, among other factors. As a result, in order to achieve boost pressures in the ballpark of high-power Allied engines, it was necessary to rely on water injection even at nominal operation. Nonetheless,…
This is an update to the previous article about the performance of the Type 4 Fighter (Ki-84), addressing some errors and new information that I have found since writing it. It is not so much an article as a set of separate points. The original article is here: https://karyu.org/2022/12/23/ki-84-performance Ha-45 Special is Ha-45-11, not Ha-45-12…
The A6M4 is an “unknown” variant of the Zero Fighter that has been described as a variety of things over the years. The most common theory in English writing is that A6M4 was a designation for a type of Zero fitted with a turbocharger to its Sakae engine. Another common theory is that the number…
Following the surrender of Japan in August 1945, the American occupational authorities sought to gather whatever aircraft developments were of potential interest. Naturally, the most cutting edge planes and engines developed in Japan were high on this list. More than a few of these projects had already been destroyed by Japanese orders immediately issued to…
