Ki-96

Ki-96

Ki-96

Japan

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
4.0	3.7	3.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Fighter

Interceptor

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

Description

The Ki-96 is a rank III premium Japanese twin-engine fighter with a battle rating of 4.0 (AB) and 3.7 (RB/SB). This aircraft was introduced in Update 1.35.

General info

Flight Performance

The Ki-96 is a generally smooth flyer and is characterized by its powerful armament, high speed, high climb rate, interceptor spawn and relatively good turn rate. All of these traits make for a solid interceptor that can shred through bombers like a hot Katana through wet Bamboo.

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 5,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
568	553	10000	25.3	25.7	14.5	14.5	380
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 5,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
634	600	10000	23.7	24.0	30.9	19.5	380

Details

Features
Combat flap	Take-off flap	Landing flap	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flap (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
0	310	???	~??	~?

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< ???	< ???	< ???	> ???

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
?,??? m	??? hp	?,??? hp

Survivability and armour

• 12 mm steel plating in the nose
• 16 mm steel plating behind the pilot
• Critical components located at the front of aircraft (fuel, pilot, engine, controls)
• Self-sealing fuel tanks in the wings

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Ki-96 is armed with:

• 1 x 37 mm Ho-203 cannon, Nose-mounted (25 rpg)
• 2 x 20 mm Ho-5 cannons, Chin-mounted (200 rpg = 400 total)

Usage in battles

One should fly the Ki-96 in its stated role: interceptor. When engaging bombers, be sure to approach from oblique angles and never tail one, as you have no bulletproof glass to protect your pilot from snipes. While bombers with good aim can snipe you, you can do the same to their plane in seconds when you land your devastating 37 mm cannon and 20 mm cannon shots. If all you encounter are fighters, it can make for a decent Boom-&-Zoom aircraft with its good speed, climb rate and armament. As a general rule, never turn fight. While the Ki-96 has a good turn rate for a twin-engined fighter, it is out-turned by most of its opposition, and same goes for its speed. With these in mind, always try to engage fighters with an energy advantage, although be careful as the Ki-96's roll rate heavily stiffens above 400 Mp/h or 643 Kp/h, which makes it hard to control at high speeds.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Separate	Not controllable	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage Repair	Radiator		Offensive 20 mm belts
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 20 mm cannons
III	Wings Repair	Engine		New 37 mm cannons
IV		Engine Injection	Cover

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Powerful offensive armament all mounted in the centre of the plane
• Guns have good ammo capacity
• Fast, quicker than most Japanese planes at the same rank
• Turns well for a twin-engined Fighter
• High climb rate
• Thin body means smaller profile to be fired at
• Decent roll rate below 640 km/h
• Responsive elevator
• 360° cockpit view
• Premium rewards

Cons:

• Wings are littered with fuel tanks
• Still outmaneuvered and outsped by most single-engined fighters
• No bulletproof glass to protect the pilot from getting knocked out
• Good cockpit visibility is hampered by a large amount of structural bars
• Poor energy retention
• Roll rate stiffens above 640 km/h
• 37 mm cannon has relatively low muzzle velocity

History

The Ki-96 was a twin-engined heavy fighter developed by Kawasaki Aeronautics in 1942 after the success of their Ki-45 line. Like the Ki-45, it was a two-seat, twin-engined fighter with larger and more powerful Ha-112 radial engines to replace the Ki-45's Ha-104 engines. It was intended to replace the "Toryu's" for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, but the Imperial Japanese Army Aviation Bureau insisted that it be converted to a single-seat fighter. The first prototype made retained the cockpit canopy intended for a two-seat fighter, and the next two prototypes were fitted with smaller canopies.

Despite showing performance exceeding estimates and having excellent handling, the Army's requirements had changed back to two-seat fighters, resulting in production and development on the Ki-96 being halted, with only three prototypes being made. However, the wings and tail unit would later go on to form the Ki-102 wings and tail.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the aircraft;
• other literature.

Japan twin-engine fighters and strike aircraft
Navy
Land-based Fighter
J1N	J1N1
J5N	J5N1
Army
Ki-45	Ki-45 ko · Ki-45 otsu · Ki-45 hei · Ki-45 tei
Ki-83	Ki-83
Ki-96	Ki-96
Ki-102	Ki-102 otsu
Ki-108	Ki-108 Kai
Ki-109	Ki-109