World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe Ki-2 aircraft, employed by the Japanese Army as the Army Type 93 Twin-engine Light Bombers, were modified upon a German design. They first took flight in May 1933, served in counter-insurgency operations in northeastern China (Manchuria) throughout the 1930s, and saw action in support of Japanese Army operations when the war began in 1937. By the late 1930s, they were considered obsolete, thus they were largely relegated to training roles.

ww2dbaseBetween 1936 and 1939, the newspaper company Asahi Shimbun operated a civilian version of the Ki-2-II variant. This aircraft broke a number of records, including making the 4,930-kilometer flight from the Tachikawa airfield in Tokyo to Bangkok, Thailand in 21 hours and 36 minutes in Dec 1936.

ww2dbaseBetween 1933 and 1938, a total of 187 Ki-2 aircraft were built, 126 of which were of the original Ki-2-I variant, and 61 were of the improved Ki-2-II variant.

ww2dbaseThe Allied code name for the Ki-2 bombers was Louise.

SPECIFICATIONS

Ki-2-I

Machinery	Two Nakajima Jupiter nine cylinder air-cooled radial engines rated at 603hp each
Armament	2x7.7 mm machine guns, 500kg of bombs
Crew	3
Span	19.95 m
Length	12.60 m
Height	4.64 m
Wing Area	56.20 m²
Weight, Empty	2,800 kg
Weight, Maximum	4,500 kg
Speed, Maximum	225 km/h
Service Ceiling	7,000 m
Range, Normal	900 km

Photographs