Performance from the Mitsubishi Ha-112-II 14-cylinder radial piston engine offered up tremendous capabilities in top speed, ceiling limit and range. Top speed was reported at some 367 miles per hour while, more importantly, the ceiling limit was tabbed at nearly 33,000 feet. maximum range topped out at over 1,200 miles beating out both of the other favorable Japanese fighter designs in the Kawanishi N1K1-J Shiden and the Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien. The success of the Ki-100 necessitated an improved offering that sought to mate a more powerful Ha-112-II in the form of the Ha-112-IIru engine to the design with an integrated turbocharger. The resulting mix would have made for a more capable high-altitude performer but, alas, only three such prototypes (with the series designation of Ki-100-II) were produced before war's end.
The Allied bombing campaign - as it was in Europe - proved successful to derailing further development and improvement to most Axis aircraft creations. Such was the case with the exceptional Ki-100 which, had it been produced in greater numbers, might have provided Japan with a much-needed interceptor to curtail the Allied bombing effort. As it was, however, the Kawasaki Ki-100, though not limited in performance or capability, was done in by the fact that it simply appeared too late in the Pacific Theater to make much of a difference in the outcome that was 1945.
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