The Kawasaki Ki-91 was a Japanese heavy bomber developed by
Kawasaki Aircraft Industries during the later years of World War II.
Development
In early 1943, following the cancellation of the Nakajima Ki-68 and Kawanishi Ki-85 due to the failure of the
Nakajima G5N
The Nakajima G5N ''Shinzan'' (, "Deep Mountain") was a four-engined long-range heavy bomber designed and built for the Imperial Japanese Navy prior to World War II. The Navy designation was "Experimental 13-Shi Attack Bomber"; the Allied code name ...
, Kawasaki responded to the Imperial Japanese Army's requirement for a long-range bomber of similar size and performance to the B-29 Superfortress with the Ki-91. Like the G5N, Ki-68, and Ki-85, the Ki-91 was to be capable of launching attacks on the continental US from Japan. In April 1944, a wooden mockup was built for inspection, and by May production of the first prototype was ordered. Construction of the prototype began in June, but the first B-29 raids on Japan were underway beginning that month. In February 1945, the first Ki-91 prototype was 60 percent complete when a B-29 air raid damaged the facility in Gifu Prefecture where the Ki-91 prototype was being built, bringing the program to a halt.
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Design
The Ki-91 was a design for a heavy bomber similar in size and bombload to the B-29 Superfortress
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...
and Consolidated B-32. It had a bigger wingspan and fuselage than the B-29 and B-32, and featured a pressurized cabin to allow high altitude flights. The prototype was to lack a pressurized cabin, but production aircraft were to be built with the pressurized cabin.[Dyer, Edwin M. III (2009). Japanese Secret Projects:Experimental aircraft of the IJA and IJN 1939–1945 (1st ed.). Hinkley: Midland publishing. pp. 14–16. .]
Specifications
See also
* ''Amerikabomber
The ''Amerikabomber'' () project was an initiative of the German Ministry of Aviation (''Reichsluftfahrtministerium'') to obtain a long-range strategic bomber for the ''Luftwaffe'' that would be capable of striking the United States (specifical ...
''
References
Further reading
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{{Japanese Army Aircraft Designation System
Ki-91
1940s Japanese bomber aircraft
Four-engined tractor aircraft
World War II Japanese bombers
Four-engined piston aircraft