World War II Database

1. Thomas says:
18 Nov 2014 12:15:24 PM

This is very interesting. Never heard of this plane.

2. Ron says:
10 May 2016 04:16:26 PM

Too bad for Japan, this fighter wasn't given the priority it deserved.

What other Japanese fighter could climb to 10km in 10 minutes, or go faster than this one? Nevermind that this is a 2 seater with twin engines! Wow!
Not only that, but it was so agile while packing massive firepower and good crew protection.

It compared favorably with the USN Tigercat, if not besting it in most every way. Quite a potential contender as an interceptor.
The B-29s dodged the bullet. The IJA gave priority to the immature, short-endurance rocket instead. Of course this would not enter the ring either.

3. Ron says:
20 Aug 2016 10:21:52 PM

In a US test postwar, the Ki 83 did 474 mph in level flight!
In the Japanese test in late 1944, it only did 438 mph but still out-climbs the F8F Bearcat to 10km in 10 minutes vs 10,1 minutes! This is a twin engine Japanese fighter vs the single engine bearcat, and with inferior fuel. The F8F was the US climbing champ!

What does it take to get high priority in late-war Japan? 7,000 A6M5-7 Zeros were being produced in the last half of the war after they were obsolete! Had the Navy brass acted more like the Army brass, Mitsubishi resources may have been better utilized.
What could intercept a B-29 better than a Ki 83, an A6M5 Zero? Not hardly!

The Ki 83 had automatic combat flaps and could loop in under 31 seconds!
It had laminar flow wings and a reliable high altitude engine for a total of 4500 hp!
It's cannons were the fastest in WW 2.
The 20mm Ho-5 rate was 850 rpm; the 30mm Ho-155-II was up to 600 rpm! Firing range was 900m!
Unlike most A6M5s, the Ki 83 had pilot armor protection.
Endurance was enough to reach B-29 bases and take the fight right to them all the way home.

What other fighter in the world could match all that in 1944?
What if that 7,000 A6M5-7s was say, 3,000 Ki 83s instead?
The B-29 dodged the bullet, compliments of the inept IJNAF brass!
Just my opinion.

4. Anonymous says:
5 Apr 2017 11:39:44 AM

The 37mm Ho-204 cannon had stand-off firing range and fastest RoF for a 37mm. It just needed a twin engine fighter with high speed to avoid escorts. Nothing compared to the Ki 83. If this combo had occurred in 1944 the B-29s would be in real trouble. Even with the more reliable non turbo MK9A engines, no other Japanese interceptor would compare.

5. vvvci says:
27 Jan 2025 07:14:11 PM

I agree with both above comments that the US B-29 bomber crews got very lucky the Japanese did not put a HIGH PRIORITY on this excellent aircraft, work out the kinks, and put it in priority production earlier. Those twin 30mm cannons were real bomber killers - just flying a B-29 over water long distances with no combat was hazardous - if an engine went out (much less caught fire) the crew would be lucky to make it back to base... much less absorbing the punishment of 20mm and 30mm canon fire! They say in fighter design "What looks good usually flies well" and imho the Mitsubishi Ki-83 looks meaner, cleaner and faster than either the Grumman F7 Tigercat or the British (post-war) Sea Hornet - the later of which famed test pilot Eric Brown (who flew almost every British and American aircraft flown in WW II) said was the best plane he ever flew.

The Japanese culture of putting so much deference to rank and authority ("kow-towing") often saw incompetent generals and admirals promoted to command positions by seniority, even when they had little or poor combat experience - the same shortcomings in the aviation design and procurement high command shortchanged the excellent Ki-83 from the priority it deserved, and once the B-29s (and U.S. Navy bombers) started bombing Japanese aircraft factories, it was too late.