Kawasaki Ki-45 Kai Ko Night fighter "Nick"

[Grzegames]

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Kawasaki Ki-45 Kai Ko Night fighter (川崎 キ45改甲 “ 丁 裝 備 機 ” 夜 戰 型)
The Kawasaki Ki-45 Kai Ko Night Fighter is a Japanese fighter developed in 1943 at the Rabaul base in response to night bombings. Based on it, the Kawasaki Ki-45 Kai Tei was developed. It is not exactly known how many modified Ki-45 Kai Ko were produced, but at least 20.
History
In April 1943, the 13th Sentai (Aviation Squadron) was sent to New Guinea, consisting of two squadrons of Kawasaki Ki-45 fighters and one squadron of Nakajima Ki-43 fighters. The 13th Sentai was intended to support the Japanese army and navy in this region (especially over Guadalcanal and Rabaul) against Allied air raids. In July 1943, the 5th Sentai, equipped exclusively with Kawasaki Ki-45 Kai Ko fighters, joined the 13th Sentai. During combat, it was found that the Ki-45 was excellent for intercepting American B-17 and B-24 bombers, but it performed poorly in dogfights with fighter planes, suffering heavy losses against P-38 fighters. Additionally, in 1943, the Americans changed their tactics and began nighttime raids on Japanese military installations (having started doing this on a smaller scale in 1941 and 1942). Therefore, they took inspiration from the field modification of the Nakajima J1N1 (J1N1-C Kai) aircraft into a night fighter. Regionally, the Air Force command of the army decided to modify the Ki-45 Kai Ko into a night fighter. In field workshops (probably at the Rabalau base), a pair of Ki-45 fighters were modified. The modification involved removing the upper fuel tank in the fuselage, and in the resulting space, two Ho-103 12.7mm machine guns were installed at an angle of 32 degrees upward. The modified Ki-45 Kai Ko night fighters were assigned to the 5th and 13th Sentai, where they proved successful (similarly to the previous prototype of the Nakajima J1N1-S aircraft), and the Japanese army decided to begin serial production of similarly armed Ki-45s under the designation Kawasaki Ki-45 Kai Tei. Later, Ki-45 Kai Ko were modified based on the Ki-45 Kai Ko night fighter model and participated in combat. The modified Ki-45 Kai Ko could be armed with either two Ho-103 12.7mm machine guns or two Ho-5 20mm cannons in a Schräge Musik arrangement. It is not certain exactly how many Ki-45 Kai Ko night fighters were produced, but at least over 20.

Photo of Kawasaki Ki-45 Kai Ko Night Fighter

Art of the Kawasaki Ki-45 Kai Ko Night Fighter

Construction description
The Kawasaki Ki-45 Kai Ko Night Fighter is almost identical to the Kawasaki Ki-45 Kai Ko. The only difference is the removal of the upper fuel tank in the fuselage and the installation of two Ho-103 12.7mm machine guns or two Ho-5 20mm cannons at an angle of 32 degrees upwards (but this suggestion focuses on the version with the Ho-103).

Technical sketches

Comparison of the Ki-45 Kai Ko Night Fighter with other Ki-45 variants

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length: 10,60 m
• Wingspan: 15,02 m
• Height: 3,70 m
• Wing area: 32,03 m2
• Empty weight: 3695 kg (?)
• Gross weight: 5276 kg (?)
• Maximum Take-off Weight: ?
• Powerplant: 2 x Mitsubishi Ha-102, air-cooled two-star fourteen-cylinder engine with a take-off power of 772 kW (1,080 hp)
• Propellers: Three-bladed propellers with a diameter of 2 950 mm

Performance

• Maximum speed: 547 km/h
• Cruising speed: 380 km/h
• Range: 1500 km
• Maximum Range: 2260 km
• Service ceiling: 10730 m
• Climb Rate: 12,3 m/s
• Rate of climb: 6,28 min to 4645 m

Armament

1. Guns:

• 2 × Ho-103 machine guns 12.7 mm in the nose (250 rounds per machine gun)
• 2 x Ho-103 machine guns 12.7 mm mounted at the rear at 32 degrees
• 1 x Ho-3 20mm cannon on the belly (100 rounds)
• 1 x Type 98 7.7mm Mobile Machine Gun in rear gunner position (1050 rounds)

2. Bombs:

• 2 x Type 2 No. 6 No. 21 “TA-DAN (under the fuselage)
• 2 x 50 kg bombs (?) (under the fuselage)
• 2 x 100 kg bombs (?) (under the fuselage)
• 2 x 250 Kg bombs (?) (under the fuselage)

3. Rocket:

• 4 x rocket Ro-3 (?)
• 4 x rocket Ro-5 (?)

4. Fuel dump tanks:

• 2 x 200 L dump tanks under wings

Armor

• Self-sealing fuel tanks
• 16mm armor plate behind the pilot’s seat
• 16mm armor plate for the pilot

Special thanks

• @skultew1234
• @Rowiek

Summary
The Kawasaki Ki-45 Kai Ko Night Fighter is an interesting fighter for Japan in War Thunder. This aircraft would be an interesting interceptor fighter, capable of attacking enemy bombers from below by surprise. The Kawasaki Ki-45 Kai Ko Night Fighter could be added as a plane in the tech tree, as a premium, an event, or even as a modification for the regular Ki-45 Kai Ko. I encourage you to discuss in the comments and to share your own knowledge on this subject.
Finally, I apologize for the linguistic and logical errors because unfortunately English is not my main language and I had to use google translator.

Internet sources

二式複座戦闘機 - Wikipedia
Kawasaki Ki 45 Torjú [Nick] : Kawasaki
Kawasaki Ki 45 KAIa Torjú [Nick] : Kawasaki
Kawasaki Ki-45-KAI-Ko “Toryu”, (“Dragon Killer”, “Nick”), 5th Sentai, 1st Chutai, (Hasegawa) | ModelPlanes.de
Уголок неба ¦ Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu

Book sources

• Japanese Heavy Fighters 1937-1945 , page 7-26
• Lotnictwo Wojskowe numer 4/2002 (Military Aviation No. 4/2002) , page 42-44
• 野沢正『日本航空機総集 川崎篇』出版協同社, page 128-136
• Model-art-595-Night-fighters.pdf - Dysk Google

Thank you for reading the suggestion, see you in the next one. Good luck pilots

[Rowiek]

Nice article!
I would love to see more Ki-45 aircraft ingame!

[PlayedStatue626-live]

+1 night fighters need more rep

[CharAznable3]

Grzegames is back

[Balta779517-live]

+1

[Grzegames]

These are my pending suggestions from 2025. So far, I haven’t written any new suggestions. I wrote about this in the suggestion about J2M6.

@Grzegames

At this point I would like to say that there are still 24 pending suggestions, so please do not be surprised if they appear.

[CharAznable3]

I know but that japanese SPG gives me hope. I have a Japanese vehicle I’m doing for infantry mode that I am researching. Its am armored truck / car thing used by SWAT team I will message it to you via message. If you know of any good sources.

[RDXRooster63]

+1 the Toryu with the upward guns and 37mm is fun, (although I’ve played it once,) and so this outta be the same fun experience

[jon_man1199]

A +1 from me! More Ki 45s would be quite nice to see

[Fourche7]

+1
I’m not much of a plane guy, but the Ki-45s are one of my favorite aircraft.
The Ki-45 Ko is already the best armed Ki-45 we have for air-to-air combat, while the other versions with bombs work quite well in ground battles. Having a version that gets both capabilities + Schräge Musik would be very fun regardless of mode.

I would prefer this be a TT aircraft alongside the earlier Ki-45 and Ki-45 Kai you’ve already suggested. They would be provide much more well-rounded playstyles as opposed to the current Ki-45 variants we have atm. I love them, but they aren’t as viable in air battles, except for the Kai-Ko.

A reworked Ki-45 progression could look something like this maybe?

• The baseline K-45 and the Type 1 (Kai) could be become the new starters of the branch, offering more conventional gameplay that would make for a much smoother transition for newer players.
• The Kai-Tei and Kai-Hei, which are the least viable in air combat, and closest to each other in design and gameplay, can be foldered under the Type 1 (Kai) so that new players aren’t forced to try to make them work.
• The Kai-Otsu takes the Kai-Hei’s spot in the Kai-Ko’s folder due to it being closer in gameplay and armament.
• Kai-Ko Night Fighter is added to the Kai-Ko’s folder.

---

[Grzegames]

There are also the Ki-45 Kai Bo and Ki-45-II (which became the first prototype of the Ki-96).

[Balta779517-live]

peak

[Fourche7]

Indeed, but I’m content with these variants not being researchable. The Kai-Bo in particular really isn’t adding much to the tree as a researchable vehicle. A Ho-203 with just 10 rounds as the only normal front facing armament isn’t doing it any favors. Maybe it could work as a squadron plane?

[Grzegames]

In fact, the Ho-301’s 40mm gun could carry more than one 10-round magazine. The Ki-45 Kai Bo, like the Ki-45 Kai Ko, could carry more magazines for the gun. The Ho-3 used 50-round magazines, and the rear gunner reloaded them (there was an additional 1 or 2 (?) magazine for the Ho-3).

This is just my guess, but I bet the Ki-45 Kai Bo could carry up to 100 rounds for the Ho-301 40mm gun.

[Fourche7]

I suppose that’s significantly better, though the velocity is still going to make it pretty underwhelming.

[Grzegames]

Yes. The Ki-45 Kai Bo is a more heavily armed Ki-45 Kai Tei with the addition of radar. Ideal for use if nighttime air combat has returned. Although I’d like to use the Ho-301 in land battles for surprise attacks on SPAA (which is how I use the Ki-102 Otsu with its Ho-401 gun and HE rounds).

[Fourche7]

That does make sense. I tend to bring HE on the 37 mm armed Ki-45’s for a similar reason. The Practice/AP is too inconsistent against most tanks, so I just look for open-tops to overpressure.