Kawasaki Ki-100

The Kawasaki Ki-100 was a single-seat, single-engine fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in the last months of the Second World War, officially the Army Type 5 Fighter. It began as an emergency measure in early 1945, when 275 almost complete Ki-61 airframes were left without engines after a bombing raid destroyed the plant making their inline Ha-140 power units. Kawasaki fitted them with the Mitsubishi Ha-112-II radial engine instead, and the result was one of the best interceptors the Army had, performing well against B-29 bombers, P-51 Mustangs and carrier-based Hellcats. A newly built variant with a cut-down rear fuselage followed, and a high-altitude version reached only prototype stage.