The was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

light bomber A light bomber is a relatively small and fast type of military bomber aircraft that was primarily employed before the 1950s. Such aircraft would typically not carry more than one ton of ordnance. The earliest light bombers were intended to dro ...

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was a single-engine, two-seat, mid-wing,

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

with a fixed

tailwheel Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms ...

undercarriage. An internal

bomb bay The bomb bay or weapons bay on some military aircraft is a compartment to carry bombs, usually in the aircraft's fuselage, with "bomb bay doors" which open at the bottom. The bomb bay doors are opened and the bombs are dropped when over th ...

accommodated a offensive load, supplemented by of bombs on external racks. During the war, it was known by the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

by the name Mary.

Design and development

The Ki-32 was developed in response to a May 1936

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

specification to replace the

Kawasaki Ki-3 The was a light bomber built by Kawasaki Kōkūki Kōgyō K.K. for the Imperial Japanese Army in the 1930s. It was the last biplane bomber design to be produced for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, and saw combat service in Manchukuo and ...

light bomber with a completely indigenously designed and built aircraft.

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

and Kawasaki were requested to build two prototypes each by December 1936. The specification called for a top speed of at ; normal operating altitude from , the ability to climb to within 8 minutes and an engine to be selected from the

Mitsubishi Ha-6 The was a two-row, 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine built by the Mitsubishi Aircraft Company for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) and the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) in the early 1930s. Like many aircraft engi ...

radial,

Nakajima Ha-5 The Nakajima Ha5 is a twin row, 14 cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engine built by the Japanese Nakajima Aircraft Company. The engine was a development of earlier single-row Japanese engines, the Kotobuki and Hikari, which had combined feat ...

radial, or

Kawasaki Ha-9 The BMW VI was a water-cooled V-12 aircraft engine built in Germany in the 1920s. It was one of the most important German aero engines in the years leading up to World War II, with thousands built. It was further developed as the BMW VII and B ...

-IIb liquid-cooled inline engines, a normal bomb load of and a maximum of , one forward-firing

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

and one flexible rearward-firing machine gun, the ability to perform 60-degree dives for

dive bombing A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact throughou ...

, and a loaded weight less than . The first Kawasaki prototype flew in March 1937; seven more prototypes were produced. Being very similar in layout and performance, the main difference between the Kawasaki Ki-32 and its

Mitsubishi Ki-30 The was a Japanese light bomber of World War II. It was a single-engine, mid-wing, cantilever monoplane of stressed-skin construction with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage and a long transparent cockpit canopy. The type had significance in bein ...

rival was in the choice of an engine. The Mitsubishi design used the Nakajima Ha-5 14-cylinder air-cooled

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...

, whereas Kawasaki opted for their own

-II inline

V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines. The fi ...

. Problems were encountered with the Kawasaki design, particularly with engine cooling, and the Mitsubishi Ki-30 received the production order. In spite of this, the pressing need for more aircraft in the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

, which had started at full scale in July 1937, resulted in the Ki-32's entry into production as well, 12 months behind its rival. Ironically, the number of Ki-32s built was much higher than that of the successful Ki-30. The Ki-32 entered production in 1938, designated as the Army Type 98 Single-engine Light Bomber. Kawasaki manufactured 854 Ki-32s before production ceased in May 1940.

Operational history

The Ki-32 saw extensive war service in the

, equipping the 3rd, 6th, 10th, 35th, 45th, 65th and 75th ''Sentai''. It also saw combat during the Battle of Nomonhan against the Soviet Union in 1938–1939. Its last combat action was bombing Commonwealth forces during the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941. After their withdrawal from front-line service in 1942, the Ki-32s were used in a training role. During

, the Japanese also supplied Ki-32s to the

Manchukuo Air Force The Manchukuo Imperial Air Force (') ( was the air force of the Empire of Manchuria, a puppet state of Imperial Japan. The air force's predecessor was the Manchukuo Air Transport Company (later renamed the Manchukuo National Airways), a parami ...

to replace

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...

′s obsolescent

Kawasaki Type 88 The Kawasaki Army Type 88 Reconnaissance Aircraft was a Japanese single-engined biplane designed for Kawasaki by Richard Vogt. Originally known by its company designation KDA-2, it was accepted by the Imperial Japanese Army as the Type 88 Reconn ...

/KDA-2 light bombers. Ki-32s were the main bomber of the Manchukuo Air Force throughout World War II.

Operators

; *

Imperial Japanese Army Air Force The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF; ja, 大日本帝國陸軍航空部隊, Dainippon Teikoku Rikugun Kōkūbutai, lit=Greater Japan Empire Army Air Corps) was the aviation force of the Im ...

**No. 3 Hikō Sentai IJAAF **No. 6 Hikō Sentai IJAAF **No. 10 Hikō Sentai IJAAF **No. 35 Hikō Sentai IJAAF **No. 45 Hikō Sentai IJAAF **No. 65 Hikō Sentai IJAAF **No. 75 Hikō Sentai IJAAF ; *

; *In 1945, Indonesian People's Security Force (IPSF) (Indonesian pro-independence guerrillas) captured a small number of aircraft at numerous Japanese air bases, including Bugis Air Base in

Malang Malang (; ) is a landlocked List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of East Java. It has a history dating back to the age of Singhasari, Singhasari Kingdom. It is the second most popul ...

(repatriated 18 September 1945). Most aircraft were destroyed in military conflicts between the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and the newly proclaimed-

Republic of Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea. Ind ...

during the

Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during Aftermath of WWII, postw ...

of 1945–1949.

Specifications

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * (new edition 1987 by Putnam Aeronautical Books, .) * * * * *

External links