YOKOSUKA D4Y2-S "JUDY" NIGHT FIGHTER

The Yokosuka / Aichi D4Y Suisei (Japanese comet) is a Japanese single-engine deck dive bomber with a metal structure in a low wing structure from the Second World War. The flight of the prototype took place in December 1940, but entry into service took place in 1942. The D4Y became the successor of the D3Y aircraft. In the course of the war, four main versions of the aircraft were created. The first, D4Y1, was powered by an Aichi Atsuta 12 engine with a capacity of 1200 HP. It served as an on-board dive bomber. Subsequent versions (D4Y2 Model 12 and D4Y3 Model 33) were powered by new engines - respectively Aichi Atsuta 32 with 1400HP and Mitsubishi Kinsei 62 (1560HP). The last version, the D4Y4, served as a kamikaze aircraft and entered production in February 1945. Also in 1945, some D4Y2 planes were converted into night fighters (designation: D4Y2-S) at the Naval Arsenal in Hiro. Bomb weapons were decommissioned, and the plane used, among other things, a 20 mm Type 99 cannon, located in the fuselage, firing upwards. The layout was modeled on the German concept of the Schräge Musik. Some aircraft of this version also had 100mm unguided air-to-air missile launchers. However, due to the lack of radar and the average rate of climb, the machine did not fulfill this role. Technical data (D4Y2 version): length: 10.22m, wingspan: 11.5m, height: 3.74m, maximum speed: 550km / h, rate of climb: 14m / s, maximum range: 1465km, maximum ceiling 10700m, weapons : fixed - 2 machine guns caliber 7.7 mm and 1 machine gun caliber 7.92 mm, underslung - up to 500 kg of bombs.