Japanese fighter proposal
The Mitsubishi J4M "Senden (閃電 "Flashing Lightning") or Navy Experimental 17-"Shi Otsu" B Type Interceptor Fighter "Senden, Allied reporting name Luke, was a Japanese World War II fighter aircraft proposed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for use by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The J4M project did not proceed beyond the design stage.
Design and development.
To provide the Imperial Japanese Navy with a land-based high-performance interceptor aircraft, Mitsubishi designed the J4M. It was to have been a single-seat, twin-boom, low-wing monoplane with a central nacelle housing an unstepped cockpit and a 1,590-kilowatt (2,130-hp) Mitsubishi Ha-43 radial engine behind the pilot driving a four-bladed pusher propeller rotating between the booms. The booms were to extend aft from the leading edge of the wing and were mounted below the central nacelle. The aircraft was to have had tricycle landing gear and an armament of one 30-mm and two 20-mm cannon.
Design of the initial J4M1 version ended when the Navy put its support behind the competing Kyūshū J7W fighter, and Mitsubishi did not build a prototype. The Allies nonetheless assigned the J4M the reporting name "Luke" during World War II.
Specifications (J4M estimated).
"Data from" "Japanese Secret Projects:Experimental aircraft of the IJA and IJN 1939-1945" General characteristics* Crew: 1* Propellers: 6-bladed metal constant speed propeller
Performance* Endurance: 2 hours 12 minutes* Time to altitude: in 15 minutes
Armament
References.
Notes.
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