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…
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…
Update Jun 26 2024: some additional information and corrections to this article in Part 2: https://karyu.org/2024/06/26/about-the-performance-of-type-4-fighter-2 The performance of the Type 4 Fighter (project name ‘Ki-84’) is a bit of a can of worms, and a subject of frequent debate. This is due to a significant amount of differing data with varying credibility, and often…
As the threat of strategic bombing loomed over Japan from the middle of the Pacific War, the development of effective extreme-caliber aircraft guns was expedited by the Japanese Army. New weapons with calibers ranging from 47 millimeters to as much as 150 millimeters were developed and were planned to be deployed on various interceptor platforms….
On July 26th, 1944, the Japanese Navy submarine I-29 ‘Matsu’ was sunk by the USS Sawfish near the Philippines while en route to Kure. Onboard ‘Matsu’ were potentially instrumental materials about secret German aircraft technology. Of relevance, there were survey sketches and other data on the Messerschmitt Me 262 and Me 163 and actual examples…
At the dawn of 1944, the German jet fighter Messerschmitt ‘Me 262’ was nearing the beginning of its service life. Due to issues with its power plant and interference from the high command, the aircraft had been in the testing stage since 1941. In the coming months, it would finally enter mass production. This aircraft…
