Mitsubishi Ki-21-IIb (九七式重爆撃機 キ21-II乙)
Mitsubishi Ki-21-IIb is the last modification of the Ki-21 aircraft. The aircraft in this version was produced from 1942 to 1944, during which 688 aircraft were built.
History
In 1940, the Ki-21-IIa was introduced into service, which installed Mitsubishi Ha-101 engines with 1,500 hp instead of Nakajima Ha 5 KAI engines with 940 hp. In this version, the armament was not changed, which was the same as that of the Ki-21-Ic (hei), which resulted in the defense capabilities being the same or even worse than before. In 1940, the armament of the Ki-21-IIa was no longer sufficient, so the search for a solution to this problem slowly began. When the war between the USA and Japan broke out in December 1941, the defensive armament of the Ki-21-IIa immediately became insufficient, which resulted in the acceleration of work on improving this aircraft. Work on the prototype probably began in mid-1941, and the prototype was ready in the same year. At the end of 1941, the aircraft passed army tests and was adopted as the Ki-21-IIb. The changes introduced to this aircraft consisted in strengthening the defense capabilities (more on this later). Serial production began in 1942 and ended in September 1944. Unfortunately, this modification did not help the Ki-21 to remain an obsolete aircraft, it was quickly outclassed by modern American aircraft. These planes were quickly withdrawn from line units and by 1945 only a handful of planes remained that acted as bombers, the rest were converted into transport planes.
Summary
The Mitsubishi Ki-21-IIb would be a very interesting aircraft for Japan in War Thunder. It would be a very nice low-rank bomber that would be able to cope with some of the weaker fighters. Although its load is small (only 1000kg), it complements it with maneuverability and speed. I encourage you to discuss in the comments and to share your own knowledge on this topic.
Finally, I apologize for the linguistic and logical errors because unfortunately English is not my main language and I had to use google translator.
The Ki-21 has an excellent carrying capacity for 50 kg bombs, with a capacity of 20. This is the most of any Japanese bomber.
Especially in SB from BR3.7 to 4.7, it is the only land-based bomber that can destroy two small bases in one sortie.
However, it clearly lacks defensive firepower and speed to be used in that BR.
Please implement Ki-21-IIb.
We apologize. I did not understand the truth of your statement. Perhaps the translation is not working.
As for the “Since most Under estimate it” part, are you referring to “those who fly low”? Do you mean “those who use low-ranking aircraft?” It would be helpful to know.
When you become experienced, you can turn and shoot. The Aircraft turns incredibly well. Which many pilots underestimate since they expect it to be slow and sluggish.
Use DEEPL for a more accurate translation.
I see! I see what you mean.
The Japanese translation of “turn” didn’t work on either google or DeepL. In Japanese, it seems to have multiple meanings.
Indeed, Ki-21-Ia in WT can turn very lightly. It is hard to believe that it is a bomber. But that being said, I think the Ki-21-IIb should have the speed to match. The Ki-21-IIb should have the same speed as the Ki-21-IIb, because its turning performance will be reduced due to the enhanced defensive firepower and bulletproofing, and to compensate for this, and above all, the faster speed will simply allow it to reach the bombing target more quickly. I mainly play Air SB, so I can contribute more to the team if I can destroy small bases in a time efficient manner.
Again, translated by DeepL. I hope it is translated correctly.
More armaments would make a craft heavier. Just not by much. I do agree it should be faster than the Ki-21 Ia. However this is Gaijin. Difficult to expect that. Anyway, you have a nice day/night :D 0/ (Waving)
The notable feature of this aircraft is the Ho-103 gun turret, but the shape of the left and right lateral gun turrets also differs significantly from that of the Ki-21-I hei in the game.
I will post a reference drawing of the primary source here.
The URL of the primary source will also be posted.
(Note that this is the manual for Ki-21-IIa (ko), not Ki-21-IIb (otsu)) https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/8815752
I found a document that shows the internal structure of the upper gun turret and I will share it with you.
It was probably taken from a gun turret part of an aircraft captured by the U.S. military (because it makes dimensional sense, assuming that the scale on the lower right is in inches).
Since the upper gun turret has a different shape for ko and otsu, the values in the manual are not applicable. I think it is appropriate to apply the values from the U.S. military survey data.
For your information, the number of 7.7mm rounds is as follows.
(from the IJA manual)
Front: 476 rounds
Rear bottom: 544 rounds
Side: 816 total (408 rounds each)
Tail: 500 rounds
(2) describes the 1,000 kg bomb, and (5) describes the torpedo equipment.
Since the torpedo equipment was only prototyped for two aircraft, I think it would be difficult to implement it in the game, but since the 1,000 kg bomb equipment is described as having been delivered in quantities sufficient for 200 aircraft, I think it would be fine to implement it.
If a 1,000 kg bomb can be equipped, then naturally an 800 kg bomb can also be equipped.
