The was a Japanese jet fighter-

attacker In some team sports, an attacker is a specific type of player, usually involved in aggressive play. Heavy attackers are, usually, placed up front: their goal is to score the most possible points for the team. In association football, attackers a ...

project designed during the final stages of

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 ...

but which was never completed.

Development

The

Nakajima Kikka The was Japan's first jet aircraft. It was developed late in World War II and the first prototype had only flown once before the end of the conflict. It was also called . Design and development After the Japanese military attaché in Germany w ...

had been inspired by the successful German

Messerschmitt Me 262 The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed ''Schwalbe'' (German: "Swallow") in fighter versions, or ''Sturmvogel'' (German: "Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the Germa ...

, but the similarities to that aircraft were limited to the general configuration. On the other hand, the design team led by Iwao Shibuya based the ''Karyū'' far more closely on the German aircraft, which had already proven itself quite formidable. The Ki-201 project was ordered by the Imperial Japanese Army between October and December 1944, with the Army laying out a performance requirement of an 800~1,000 km/h top speed, 12,000 meter practical ceiling, and 800~1,000 km range. The design was advanced by Nakajima during 1945 and the basic drawings were completed in June. Nakajima anticipated the completion of the first ''Karyū'' by December 1945, and the first 18 units by March 1946. Most sources agree that work on the first

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

had not yet begun by the time of the Japanese surrender.

Specifications (planned specification)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* (new edition 1987 by Putnam Aeronautical Books, .)* Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War: Fighters, Volume Three''. London: Macdonald, 1961 (Seventh impression 1973). . * Mikesh, Robert C. ''Kikka, Monogram Close-Up 19''. Bolyston, Massachusetts: Monogram Aviation Publications, 1979. . * Unknown Author. ''Famous Aircraft of the World, first series, no.76: Japanese Army Experimental Fighters (1)''. Japan: Bunrin-Do Co. Ltd., August 1976.

External links