Ki-83

Ki-83

J2M5

Ki-83

J2M5

Japan

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
6.0	6.0	6.0

Class:

Fighter

Interceptor

Research:63 000

Purchase:200 000

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Description

The Ki-83 is a Rank IV Japanese twin-engine fighter with a battle rating of 6.0 (AB/RB/SB). This aircraft was introduced in Update 1.57 "Battle March".

General info

Flight Performance

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 9,500 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
679	661	12600	24.6	25.5	14.0	17.0	420
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 9,500 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
?	?	12600	??.?	??.?	??.?	??.?	420

Details

Features
Combat flap	Take-off flap	Landing flap	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flap (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
870	310	560	~14	~5

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 460	< 500	< 520	> 180

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
4,000 m	3,860 hp	4,246 hp
Setting 2
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
9,000 m	3,040 hp	3,344 hp

Survivability and armour

• 60 mm Bulletproof glass - Armored windscreen
• 12 mm Steel plate behind the pilot.
• 12 mm Steel plate in the nose.
• 8 mm Steel plate in the fuselage.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Ki-83 is armed with:

• 2 x 30 mm Ho-155 cannon, nose-mounted (80 rpg = 160 total)
• 2 x 20 mm Ho-5 cannon, nose-mounted (160 rpg = 320 total)

Suspended armament

      Main article: Bombs

The Ki-83 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 2 x 50 kg Army Type 94 GPHE bombs (100 kg total)

Usage in the battles

The Ki-83 is truly an extraordinary airplane, boasting an often superior climb rate, top speed, and agility versus other propeller-driven aircraft. Ideally, all three would be utilized to bring the Ki-83 it's maximum effectiveness. The favored tactic is to use the amazing rate of climb to get above your enemies. Upon take-off, pitch up into a 25 - 30 degree climb while using WEP. Once your engines begin to overheat (typically about 3,000 m) then decrease the throttle to 95% or 100% and continue at a 15 - 20 degree angle. A good altitude to level off at is anywhere from 6,500 m and upwards, but keep in mind other planes typically don't venture past 8,000 m. Once at your desired altitude, initiate Boom & Zoom attacks on any enemy aircraft beneath you. In the dive on the enemy aircraft, consider bringing the throttle to 90% or 85% instead of using WEP the entire way down in order to cool the engines. Don't worry, even without WEP the Ki-83 still dives like a beast. If you miss the initial pass, fret not! Simply increase the throttle back to the WEP setting and zoom climb away. If the enemy aircraft tries to follow you, execute some evasive rolls to throw off their aim, and then pull a hammerhead (once they have stalled out) by bringing the throttle to 0% and extending the landing flaps. Once the nose is pointed at the ground, retract the flaps and push the throttle back to 100%. Often, the enemy aircraft will not have had sufficient time to recover from the stall, and your 2 x 20 mm and 2 x 30 mms will make quick work of their airplane.

However, sometimes you will find yourself in a situation with an enemy on your 6. Now is the time to use one of the Ki-83's most surprising strengths -- it's agility. Use a mixture of pitch changes (nosing up or down) and rolls to shake off the opponent's aim if they are diving on you in order to force them to overshoot. If you're lucky, you may even get a firing solution on them as they zoom away. Be cautious though, the late war props and jets that you will face at this BR can often out climb you if they had the energy advantage first.

Should a situation arise in which you need to dogfight an enemy, this is not the worst plane to be in for this scenario. Combat flaps can be deployed at speeds under 525 kph (352 mph), and landing flaps under 425 kph (265 mph). The Ki-83 shines most in a horizontal turning fight (especially with landing flaps deployed), as a vertical turning engagement can often bleed speed too fast and leave the Ki-83 a sitting duck to a plane that is more adept at vertical maneuvers, such as a Spitfire.

When engaging bombers, be wary of their gunners, and aim for their tails (to disable elevator control) and engines (to either break their wings, set their fuel on fire, or knock out engines). If you have the opportunity to engage the bomber head-on, take it. Aim for the pilots for a quick and easy pilot snipe. Do mind that the velocity on your 30 mm guns' tracer and standard high explosive shells are very different, the tracers have a velocity of 920 m/s whereas the more effective ones have only 720, so aiming your tracers a little high can have better results than trying to land the visible shells on the target. This problem can be eliminated by mounting the all-tracers belt (made up exclusively of high explosive tracer rounds, which share the same ballistic properties and cause decent damage on hit (although less than the HE-F shells), mounting the ground targets belt (in which all shells have the same speed, although 2 out of every 3 are much less effective against aircraft, particularly at range) or even the stealth belt, which is mostly comprised of shells sharing the same low velocity and lacks the misleading tracer phenomenon.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Separate	Not ontrollable	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage Repair	Radiator		Offensive 20 mm
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 20 mm Cannons
III	Wings Repair	Engine		Offensive 30 mm
IV		Engine Injection	Cover	New 30 mm Cannons

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Very good climb-rate (excellent for a heavy fighter)
• Excellent firepower
• Great top speed at all altitudes
• Extraordinary energy retention
• High red-line speed, can go over 800 kph in a dive
• Fast at diving
• Arguably Japan's top propeller-driven fighter
• Navigator acts as spaced armor
• Good firepower, featuring the Ho-155

Cons:

• Big target
• No engine armour
• Limited ammo supply for a heavy fighter
• No self-sealing fuel tanks, catches fire easily and often doesn't take it out
• Engines overheat very quickly if manual engine control (MEC) is not used properly
• Loses a lot of performance once the engines are hit
• Hard to cool the engines down if they are damaged
• Below-average rate of roll

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.

Media

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Read also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example,

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

Sources

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• page on aircraft encyclopedia;
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Japan twin-engine fighters and strike aircraft
Navy
Land-based Fighter
J1N	J1N1
J5N	J5N1
Army
Ki-45	Ki-45 ko · Ki-45 otsu · Ki-45 hei · Ki-45 tei
Ki-83	Ki-83
Ki-96	Ki-96
Ki-102	Ki-102 otsu
Ki-108	Ki-108 Kai
Ki-109	Ki-109