While the Kawanishi aircraft took on a largely conventional appearance with its low-set monoplane wings, mid-set cockpit, single-finned tail unit and tail-dragger (jettisonable) undercarriage, a pulsejet engine installation was installed over the aft dorsal section of the fuselage. Rocket boosters would have given it the take-off power needed. It was intended for service with the Imperial Japanese Navy whose power during the war was ebbing away weekly. The original design was known as Type I.
Type II followed and was a revision of the basic approach, the pulsejet engine moved slightly forwards over the dorsal spine. This variant was intended for launching from IJN submarines giving the weapon and a direct line to vital American and British warships operating in the theater. From this came the final proposed iteration of the Baika concept - the Type III. This design was more of a radical departure from the previous two offerings, its pulsejet engine to be mounted ventrally and, lacking any undercarriage system, was to be air-launched by a Japanese bomber.
Regardless of the planning and physical work put into the Baika project, nothing came of it save for prototypes of the Argus pulsejet engine - known locally as the Maru Ka 10 series and promising an output rating of 795 lb thrust. The end of the war ended all work on these suicide aircraft and their respective engines.
Estimated performance included a maximum speed of 405 mph, a cruising speed of 300 mph, a range out to 175 miles and a service ceiling of 6565 feet. As its intended over-battlefield role was in kamikaze strikes, high altitude operation was of little concern. Armament was to become a 550lb explosive warhead built into the airframe. As with other kamikaze weapons of the war, the pilot was to sacrifice himself along with his aircraft - a costly investment in war.
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