The Forgotten Japanese Jet Of WW2

During WWII, the Japanese came up with crazy plans to save their empire like rocket ships crashing into American ships. This eventually led to the development of the Kayaba Katsuodori Type 4 – the forgotten Japanese jet of WWII:

The B-29 Problem

The year was 1943 and the US started to lead strategic bombings over Japan. In June 1944, B-29 bombers started to be massively used on Japanese cities.

This type of bomber can fly so high that it’s challenging for the fighter planes of the Imperial Japanese Navy to reach them.

It was during this time that the development of the Kayaba Type 4 Katsudori came about as a solution against these deadly raids.

Design & Development

The Katsudori is a small tailless jet fighter with a short range, designed to be equipped with a ramjet engine.

In 1935, Shiro Kayaba, president of Kayaba Manufacturing started the development of a tailless jet fighter, promoting the concept of a tailless ramjet powered plane.

Kayaba Manufacturing got a go signal from the Japanese army to develop the engine in 5 years. It started the development of the HK-1, HK-2, and finally, the HK-3 which was the bigger version intended to be a long-range action fighter.

However, because of subsequent crashes, the army ordered to stop the development of the final project- the Kayaba Type 4. Nonetheless, Kayaba went on with the development of these planes.

Kayaba’s Interceptor

The plane was designed to be 4.5 meters long, and had a wingspan of 9 meters.

Since one of its main purposes was to interecept the B-29, it was equipped with Ho-155/ Ho-105 30 mm canons placed inside the plane’s nose.

Its most vital feature is its propulsion. The Kayaba Type 1 ramjet engine is specially created for this beast which was supposed to deliver 750 kgs. of thrust which allows the plane to reach a maximum speed of 900 km/hr.

The plane was expected to climb at 3,350 meters per minute. Due to its small size, it only had 30 minutes worth of fuel to complete the mission and head back to base.

Way Too Late?

Despite being seen as a potential solution against American raids, the prototype was canceled due to Japan’s situation getting worse and worse.

The Kayaba Katsudori Type 3 had to give way to the Rikugun Ki-202 “Sharp Sword” which is the Japanese version of the Me-163 “Komet.”

It’s believed that if the Ku-4 had been developed earlier, it could have been an excellent interceptor against American bombers.