Ki-45

A Japanese fighter used in World War Two. There were four major production variants. These are:

Ki-45 Kai-Ko (A): Initial escort fighter variant armed with 2x 12.7mm Ho-103 Machine Guns and 1x 20mm Ho-3 cannon.

Ki-45 Kai-Otsu (B): Kai-Kos fitted with a Type 94 37mm cannon instead of the Ho-3.

Ki-45 Kai-Hei (C): Anti-Shipping type armed with 1x Ho-3 and 1x 37mm Ho-201 cannons.

Ki-45 Kai-Tei (D): Night Fighter armed with 1x Ho-201 in nose as well as 2x 20mm Ho-5 cannons in a Schräge Musik mounting behind the pilot’s seat.

Used from 1942 until the war’s end, these aircraft proved somewhat successful, with over 1600 aircraft built. This makes the most produced Japanese twin-engined fighter of the war.

Have you seen the Ki-45 at the Udvar-Hazy Center?

by TwoOrMoreHippos May 11, 2022

Schräge Musik

A type of weapons setup used by German and Japanese aircraft in World War 2. In it, aircraft have cannons mounted in an upward firing position, usually diagonally, which are meant to hit and destroy bombers. The Japanese also had a variation with downward firing cannons which proved less successful. The term comes from German, and means Strange Music.

The allies initially struggled to counter German fighters with Schräge Musik guns.

by TwoOrMoreHippos May 11, 2022

Curtiss-Wright CW-21

A US built fighter meant for export built shortly before world war 2. The aircraft was exported to China and the Dutch East Indies and proved to be one of the few aircraft capable of keeping up and turning with Japanese built A6Ms and Ki-43s. It can be found in War Thunder in the Chinese tech tree at rank I, with a battle rating of 2.7. With a excellent rate of climb, great agility, and decent firepower, it makes for a great bomber interceptor.

Interestingly, there is a popular misconception that the aircraft was known as ‘Demon’. This name was actually attached after the war. Since the aircraft was made for export, demonstrator aircraft would often be sent out to other countries for them to observe. They were often referred to as ‘Demon.’ in short in documents, which led to some believing it was being referred to as Demon.

Person 1: Hey, that guy just shot down my bomber!
Person 2: What sort of plane was it?
Person 1: It was one of those damn Curtiss-Wright CW-21s. How didn’t my FW-200’s guns kill it?

by TwoOrMoreHippos May 02, 2022

APCR

Short for Armour Piercing Composite Rigid, this is a type of tank shell that uses a soft external casing to enclose a dense kinetic-energy penetrator which can pierce heavy armour. It’s infamous in War Thunder for being unreliable, as the shrapnel damage caused by the round’s core is small and often doesn’t injure crew. The concept of this sort of round was improved upon with the introduction of Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) rounds.

Damn, I do hate using APCR rounds in War Thunder.

by TwoOrMoreHippos May 02, 2022

Revenge CAS

What a War Thunder noob does when they die to an enemy tank and decide to spawn a plane

Something has to be done about all the Revenge CAS happening in War Thunder right now

by TwoOrMoreHippos May 03, 2022

P.108A

The plane with the record of the largest gun on it, a 102mm anti-shipping gun. It was based on the P.108 heavy bomber, built by the Italians during ww2.

Did you know that the plane with the biggest gun was the P.108A?

by TwoOrMoreHippos May 02, 2022

ASU-57

A Russian air-droppable tank destroyer, infamous in War Thunder for its sneakiness and surprisingly deadly gun. This sneakiness is often amplified with bushes. It’s also known as simply ASU.

Of course I couldn’t see him, he’s a ASU-57 covered in bushes!

by TwoOrMoreHippos April 29, 2022