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Nakajima Ki-201
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Nakajima Ki-201

Nakajima Ki-201 Karyu
Description
RoleFighter
Crewone, pilot
Dimensions per design
Length14.50m37' 9"
Wingspan13.69m44' 11"
Height4.69m13' 4"
Wing area25.0m²269ft²
Weights per design
Empty4,509kg9,920 lb
Loaded7,014kg15,432 lb
Maximum take-off
Intended powerplant
Engines2x Ne-230 (or Ne-130) turbojets
Total power17.4 kN (or 17.9kN)3,902 lb (or 4,004 lb)
Anticipated performance
Maximum speed
with Ne-230 or (Ne-130)		812km/h (852 km/h)507 mph (533 mph)
Range978km611 miles
Service ceiling12,000m38,400ft
Rate of Climb774m/min2,476ft/min
Armament
Guns2x 30mm Type 5 cannon or
2x 20mm Type 99 cannon

The Nakajima Ki-201 Karyu (Japanese: 中島 キ-201 火龍, "Karyu" meaning "Fire Dragon", sometimes transliterated Karyuu) was Japanese jet fighter project designed during the final stages of World War II but which was never completed.

The Karyu began as an in-house project by Nakajima in early 1945 to apply what was being learned about jet aircraft from the Nakajima Kikka attack aircraft to a fighter design. The Kikka had been inspired by the Messerschmitt Me 262, but the similarities to that aircraft were limited to general configuration. On the other hand, the design team led by Iwao Shibuya based the Karyu far more closely on the German aircraft, which had already proven itself quite formidable.

Nakajima attempted to interest the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in the aircraft, and seems to have succeeded at least far enough to have had an official designation ("Ki-201") applied to it, but at that point, the Air Force had already decided to pursue derivatives of the Mitsubishi J8M as their way of fending off the B-29 Superfortress raids. It seems that the Navy was also approached but displayed no interest whatsoever.

Undaunted, Nakajima continued development, anticipating test flights by December 1945. At the time of the Japanese surrender, most sources agree that work on the prototype had not yet begun.
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