Kawasaki Ki-88

The Kawasaki Ki-88 was a proposed single-seat fighter for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force that never got beyond a full-scale mock-up. In 1942, with the Ki-64 delayed, the army was open to other fighter designs that might reach units sooner, and Kawasaki began work on the Ki-88 in August of that year. It was inspired by the American Bell P-39 Airacobra, with a 1,500 horsepower Kawasaki Ha-140 engine mounted behind the cockpit and driving the propeller through an extension shaft, a 37 mm cannon firing through the propeller hub and two 20 mm cannons in the lower nose. The calculated top speed of 600 km/h was barely better than the Ki-61 already in production, so Kawasaki stopped work in less than a year.