Ho-203
Ho-203 was a Japanese autocannon that saw considerable use during World War II. It was a long-recoil automation of the Year 11 Type direct-fire infantry gun. It was fed by a 15-round closed-loop ammunition belt. It was operationally used only as the nose gun of the Kawasaki Ki-45-KAI heavy fighter, the anti-bomber workhorse of the Imperial Japanese Army, and tried out in the upper fuselage of the III-KAI variant of the Mitsubishi Ki-46 ''Dinah'' twin-engined warplane as a Japanese form of the Nazi ''Luftwaffe''s ''Schräge Musik'' upwards-aimed armament system for heavy fighters. Specifications *Caliber: 37 mm (1.45 in) *Ammunition: 37 x 112R (475 g) *Weight: 89 kg (196 lb) *Rate of fire: 120 rounds/min *Muzzle velocity: 570 m/s (1,870 ft/s) *Effective range: 900 m (2,950 ft). Similar ordnance designs * 37mm ''Bordkanone'' BK 3,7 (Nazi Germany) See also *Ho-5 cannon *MK 108 cannon *Ho-155 cannon *Ho-204 cannon *Ho-301 cannon *Ho-401 cannon Ho-401 was ...
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  

Kawasaki Ki-45
The Kawasaki Ki-45 ''Toryu'' (屠龍, "Dragonslayer") was a two-seat, twin-engine heavy fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. The army gave it the designation "Type 2 Two-Seat Fighter"; the Allied reporting name was "Nick". Originally serving as a long-range escort-fighter, the design — as with most heavy fighters of the period — fell prey to smaller, lighter, more agile single-engine fighters. As such, the Ki-45 instead served as a day and nighttime interceptor and strike-fighter. Design and development In response to the rapid emergence in Europe of twin-engine heavy fighters such as the Messerschmitt Bf 110, the army ordered development of a twin-engine, two-seat fighter in 1937, and assigned the proposal by Kawasaki Shipbuilding the designation of ''Ki-38''. This only went as far as a mock up, but by December of that year the army ordered a working prototype as the ''Ki-45'', whi