Ki-43-II

Ki-43-II

Ki-43-I

Ki-44-I

Ki-43-II

Ki-43-I

Ki-44-I

Japan

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.3	2.7	2.7

Class:

Fighter

Research:3 000

Purchase:6 300

This page is about the aircraft Ki-43-II. For other uses, see Ki-43 (Family).

Description

The Ki-43-II Hayabusa is a rank I Japanese fighter with a battle rating of 2.3 (AB) and 2.7 (RB/SB). This fighter was introduced into the game sometime prior to Update 1.27.

General info

Flight Performance

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 6,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
539	523	9800	15.7	16.3	11.9	11.9	190
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 6,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
580	558	9800	14.7	15.0	19.6	15.3	190

Details

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

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flap (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
0	300	523	~??	~?

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

Shape and the information about the armor plate behind the cockpit

Unlike most of the Japanese airplanes around this BR, the Ki-43-II features an armor plate. It's 12 mm steel at 12° angle, protecting an entire body, legs and part of the head from rear firing angles. It's far from perfect protection, but significantly increases survival chances of the pilot. This is further improved by a large, 14-cylinder radial engine at the front, soaking up most of the incoming damage.

That said though, one of the biggest issues with survivability of the fighter are its not self-sealing fuel tanks, which once ignited will happily burn the entire fighter to the ground, not different from most of the Japanese fighters in the game.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Ki-43-II is armed with two nose-mounted Ho-103 army (12.7 mm) machine guns (900 rpm, 250 rpg). Typically for Japanese airplanes Air Targets and Stealth belts are the preferred options, depending on the skill of the player and the game mode. 12.7 mm machine guns have an acceptable effectiveness, which is helped by their excellent location on the nose, making it easier to aim and land shots without worrying about convergence.

Suspended armament

Unlike its predecessor, Ki-43-II can be outfitted with bombs, featuring the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 2 × 100 kg Army Type 94 general-purpose bomb (total: 200 kg, 92 kg TNT)
• 2 × 250 kg Army Type 98 general-purpose bomb (total: 500 kg, 208 kg TNT)
• 2 × 50 kg Army Type 94 general-purpose bomb (total: 100 kg, 39.2 kg TNT)

Generally the choice of bombs should depend on the skill of the player, with smaller bombs getting increasingly difficult to destroy enemy targets, while at the same time giving far better flight characteristics. In terms of destroying armored targets there's a notable gap in performance, with bombs having a destructive radius of 5, 3, 2 meters for 250, 100, 50 kg bombs respectively, making 250 kg bombs a very potent weapon, even if it gives a huge decrease in performance (+1.9 s to turn time, comparing to +0.5 s with the 100 kg bombs).

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in an aircraft, the features of using vehicles in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

In all modes, the Ki-43 can perform both BnZ fighting and turnfighting with the correct opponent. It can easily accelerate to 500 kph in a dive while still having responsive controls. However its speed retention is quite poor and will loose lots of speed as soon as you level out. For turnfighting, you can out-turn most monoplane and almost all heavy fighters / attackers even without combat flaps deployed, but never turn with Spitfires and Zeros.

While having sufficient flight characteristics, the Ki-43 is extremely fragile and can get critically damaged by almost all guns. From the hard-hitting M2 Browning to the fast-firing MG 15, any gun can badly hurt the Ki-43 especially on the engine, fuel tanks, and pilot which can always lead to a later crash. Before attacking try to get an altitude advantage and perform deflection shots. To maximise the damage aim for their wings and engines, as the fuselage usually soaks up lots of bullets. Only fire when the bomber passes in front of your guns. This short window might seem inadequate to do anything... and it usually is, unfortunately. The slow velocity, light projectiles and low one-second burst mass usually guarantee no critical damage. However sometimes it only takes one bullet to set the target aflame, if you are lucky.

• In simulator, the Ki-43 is overall a decent plane. It has very forgiving characteristics such as good over-the-nose visibility, a clear bubble canopy without much framing and good backwards visibility. This increases your chance of spotting, tracking and / or dodging since you can see targets from almost every direction with ease (except the underside, of course). It is recommended to set keybind for moving your head vertically to make full use of the great forward vision in a dogfight. However, its wings are located directly below the cockpit meaning that you cannot see what is below your sides which can lead to you losing track of the enemy. You should get used to searching towards your 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 o'clock, avoiding the wings.
• Note that when taking off the Ki-43 will shift severely to the left due to the propeller torque, so it is recommended to set keybind for left & right brakes to effectively control your direction on the runway. Using rudder alone will not work at low speed and you will either circle around or lose control and crash into nearby structures like tents / hangars.
• Landing is very beginner-friendly too. It is able to decelerate quickly while also having low stall speed, allowing you to quickly slow down and descent onto the runway. Takeoff & landing flaps do not lift up the nose a lot so you can easily remain overall parallel to the ground. It also performs great when braking as its nose will not usually dip into the ground, so you can keep braking until it fully stops (given that you deflect elevators fully upwards) which is vital for preparing the next fight quickly.

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
II		Compressor	Airframe
III	Wings Repair	Engine
IV		Engine Injection	Cover

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Extremely good roll rate
• Excellent stock performance
• Wins turn battles and can easily outrun opponents it typically faces
• Can equip bombs up to 500 kg to help aid weight and energy retention
• Fires can be easily extinguished

Cons:

• Very light, retains no energy
• Weak armour
• Very limited ammo pool

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

In-game description

The single-seater Japanese Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa (Peregrine Falcon) fighter was designed to replace the Ki-27 in the Japanese Imperial Army’s Air Force.

The Ki-27 design was so successful that, without resorting to the competition that usually occurred among aircraft manufacturers, the Air Force authorized Nakajima to create an improved model. The main requirement for the new fighter was a high top speed of at least 500 km/h but with the same maneuverability as the Ki-27.

The first three prototypes were prepared and tested in 1939, but their maneuverability was inadequate. Therefore 10 pre-production aircraft with different configurations were considered. Two of them used the new “butterfly” combat flaps, which largely decided the issue. With the flaps, the plane became much more maneuverable.

In autumn of 1942, the Ki-42-IIA entered production. The main differences between the Ki-42-IIA and previous models were its more powerful Ha-115 motor, its 1130 hp output, and its three-bladed propeller (the previous model had a two-bladed propeller). The wings were reinforced to hold 250-kg bombs, and the lighter machine guns were replaced with large-caliber ones. In addition, the wing fuel tanks were self-sealing, and pilot protection was enhanced with 13 mm of armor (previous models, to lighten the aircraft, did not include protection for the pilot or fuel tanks).

All in all, 5919 Ki-43 fighters were produced, most of which were of the Ki-43-IIA design.

Media

The Shooting Range #27 - Pages of History section at 03:22 discusses the Ki-43.

See also

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

External links

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