Ki-94-I The first was a twin-boom
monoplane with two
Mitsubishi Ha211 18-cylinder engines, driving two 4-blade propellers in a
push-pull configuration. The very heavy armament planned for the aircraft (two and two
cannon should have been enough to make short work of most US
heavy bombers of the era. Notwithstanding the outstanding prospective performance, which however, was judged as "unduly optimistic" by the technical department of the Japanese Army Air Force, this design was judged too complex by the technical department, and the design was discarded.
Ki-94-II The second Ki-94 design, made by a team also under
Tatsuo Hasegawa as type I, chief designer of the aircraft and responsible for the used
airfoil, was a more conventional single-seat, piston-engine monoplane
fighter developed for the
Imperial Japanese Army Air Force along the same requirements as the
Nakajima Ki-87, which had been the Army's fall-back design for the original Ki-94. Intended to counter
B-29 raids, it was optimized for high-altitude
interception with a
pressurized cockpit and heavy armament. This design was approved by the Koku Hombu, and the aircraft was designated Ki-94-II (the scrapped earlier Ki-94 design was named the Ki-94-I). An order was placed for one static test airframe, three prototypes, and eighteen pre-production aircraft. Only two prototypes were built in the event; the first was equipped with a single
Nakajima Ha219 [Ha-44] engine, driving a 4-blade propeller because the 6-blade one was not ready. The second prototype was to be fitted with a 6-blade propeller. The War's end however stopped the construction of the second prototype and also found the first prototype still being readied for its maiden flight. So, the Ki-94-II never took to the air. ==Specifications (Ki-94-II (estimated performance))==