J2M3
| This page is about the Japanese fighter J2M3. For other versions, see J2M (Family). |
Contents
Description
The J2M3 Raiden is a rank IV Japanese fighter with a battle rating of 6.3 (AB), 5.7 (RB), and 5.0 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.45 "Steel Generals".
Unlike its other Naval brethren in the Japanese tech tree, the Raiden possesses a top speed rivalling that of the P-51 D-5 Mustang. Although a stubby and small aircraft, the Mitsubishi J2M Raiden can be considered one of the best Japanese fighters in War Thunder. The main advantage the Raiden has over some of its Allied counterparts is its climb rate. In realistic battles, the J2M3 can climb to altitude very fast, especially when given an air start. Once at a high altitude, the Raiden pilot can pick and choose targets, dictating where and when they want to fight. Problem is, the guns, while appearing good on paper with ~17g TNT equivalent (TNTe) per bullet, their rate of fire is atrocious compared to other nations' 20mm cannons, while their muzzle velocity is also subpar compared with those of most other nations. This renders the plane extremely frustrating to use when taking into account the fact that it has extreme control stiffening above 550kph IAS. Recommended belt is Stealth, because it has only the HEF rounds with that high TNTe and none of the HEF-I or HEF-T rounds with half that yield or less. But even that will be subpar, because the plane has two different models of Type 99 cannons with vastly different muzzle velocities (588m/s on the outer pair and 750m/s on the inner one), rendering your guns a very unfocused mess to aim.
The Raiden aircraft's main downside is its lack of manoeuvrability at higher speeds. Similar to its German counterpart, the Fw 190 A-8, the Raiden struggles to beat enemies in turn fights, especially Spitfires although one shouldn't turn with a Spitfire in general. If caught in a sticky situation, the Raiden pilot may choose to dive away or seek help from teammates. Trying to fight an enemy Spitfire in a turn battle with the J2M is a terrible idea unless the enemy aircraft is damaged or many teammates are nearby. Moreover, the J2M's high-speed manoeuvrability is poor, making the entire aircraft lock up. It can be very difficult to pull out of a dive, roll, or turn when at high speeds with the J2M. The Raiden's manoeuvrability is more or less on par with its enemies in simulator battles, for the most part.
The main strength of the J2M3 is its very high Power-to-Weight Ratio - it can vertically play with most opponents with ease, while still being able to horizontally outmaneuver a lot of opponents with the flaps deployed. It is similar to but worse in most respects except rip speed than the Yak-3U. The plane can even give Bf-109K-4s a run for their money in the vertical.
General info
Flight performance
| Characteristics | Max Speed (km/h at 5,500 m) |
Max altitude (metres) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (metres/second) |
Take-off run (metres) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
| Stock | 571 | 551 | 11500 | 19.8 | 20.5 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 300 |
| Upgraded | 625 | 596 | 18.8 | 19.0 | 28.5 | 21.3 | ||
Details
| Features | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat flaps | Take-off flaps | Landing flaps | Air brakes | Arrestor gear |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | X | X |
| Limits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wings (km/h) | Gear (km/h) | Flaps (km/h) | Max Static G | |||
| Combat | Take-off | Landing | + | - | ||
| 0 | 350 | 488 | 454 | 280 | ~12 | ~9 |
| Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
| < 390 | < 400 | < 420 | > 324 |
| Compressor (RB/SB) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Setting 1 | ||
| Optimal altitude | 100% Engine power | WEP Engine power |
| 2,203 m | 1,680 hp | 1,999 hp |
| Setting 2 | ||
| Optimal altitude | 100% Engine power | WEP Engine power |
| 5,400 m | 1,560 hp | 1,856 hp |
Survivability and armour
- 70 mm Bulletproof glass - Armoured windscreen
- 8.5 mm Steel plate in pilot's headrest
Modifications and economy
| Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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|
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Unlocking the Radiator should be the first concern, as the plane has an annoying overheating problem, where much like the F8F-1B or Ki-83, the engine will gradually overheat and destroy itself even at 100% throttle, though not quite as quickly as those two, on Automatic Engine Controls. Of next priority are the guns, because they're such a mess that you need the element of surprise that the lack of tracers from Stealth belts gives you in order to secure kills. Get every performance module on the way down as you unlock the gun upgrades. Ordinance, while handy in Combined Ground, is of least concern due to the plane's not-so-nice high speed diving characteristics making aiming the Type 5 No.6 Mod.9 useful rockets at player tanks difficult at best.
Armaments
Offensive armament
The J2M3 is armed with:
- 2 x 20 mm Type 99 Model 2 cannons, wing-mounted (210 rpg = 420 total)
- 2 x 20 mm Type 99 Model 1 cannons, wing-mounted (190 rpg = 380 total)
Suspended armament
The J2M3 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:
- Without load
- 2 x 60 kg Navy Type 97 Number 6 bombs (120 kg total)
- 2 x Type 3 No.1 Mod.28 Mk.1 rockets
- 2 x Type 5 No.1 Mod.9 rockets
- 2 x Type 3 No.6 Mod.27 Mk.1 rockets
- 2 x Type 5 No.6 Mod.9 rockets
Usage in battles
Featuring two 20 mm Type 99 Model 1 cannons and two 20 mm Type 99 Model 2 cannons with plenty of ammunition, the J2M3 is rather annoying to work with. The two gun pairs have wildly different muzzle velocities, and as a result are quite unfocused in their fire. The individual bullets are fairly strong, with nearly 17g TNT equivalent, but suffer horrifically low rate of fire (510 rounds per minute [rpm] on Model 1 and 490 rpm on Model 2) compared with the 600-800 rpm of most of its opponents.
For ground attack, the J2M3 has frankly awful ordinance. 60kg bombs are near-worthless, requiring pinpoint aim to take out even Air AI Artillery. The only relevant ordinance type for Combined Ground Battles are the Type 5 No.6 Mod.9 rockets (a Tier IV module unlock), which with 10kg explosive mass, will take out any player-controlled tank they directly hit thanks to overpressure. But the plane's diving characteristics are not the best, so it will be hard to aim those.
Overall, the Raiden is best used as a surprise attack, high altitude fighter with an emphasis on vertically looping opponents to death, similar to the Bf-109 family. The guns aren't great, but with Stealth you can "walk" your fire onto your target and make them work decently enough.
The Raiden pilot will find him/herself frequently outclassed in speed by many opponents, but most of your opponents will be careless enough to try maneuvering with you, allowing you to catch them. The Raiden's BR is frankly at a legacy state from a different time in the game's history, and simply has not been played enough in recent years by enough of the game population to adjust its statistics and thus BR down to a reasonable level.
Manual Engine Control
| MEC elements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixer | Pitch | Radiator | Supercharger | Turbocharger | ||
| Oil | Water | Type | ||||
| Controllable | Controllable Not auto controlled |
Controllable Not auto controlled |
Controllable Not auto controlled |
Separate | Controllable 2 gears |
Not controllable |
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Decent top speed, although lower than its contemporaries
- Large ammunition pool
- Insanely high climb rate
- Has generally adequate dive characteristics
- Quite excellent energy retention
- Great medium-speed manoeuvrability
- 12 mm armour plate behind the windscreen
- Reasonable roll rate at lower speeds
- Excellent performance at high altitudes
Cons:
- Very poor high-speed performance
- Prone to engine and fuel fires
- Doesn't turn well at higher speeds
- Elevator doesn't respond well, especially at high speeds
- Lack of armour around fuel tanks or engine
- Differing muzzle velocities between the two models of the Type 99 cannon on the J2M3 will require you to lead much further than normal as an order to utilize the full effectiveness of the J2M3's firepower
- Below-average rate of fire on both types of Type 99 cannon mean that while your guns hit fairly hard per bullet, you still take longer to secure a kill than all your opponents do.
History
Development
During the China Incident (Sino-Japanese war) the Navy had sustained some damage from Chinese bomber groups as they didn't have any dedicated interceptors at the time, for this reason the Navy put out multiple specifications for planes to deal with threats which the Chinese made clear to the Navy. For bombers specifically they specified for a strictly local-defense interceptor known as the 14-Shi Interceptor.
The designer behind the A6M, Jiro Horikoshi and his team started development on this specification. But due the harsh unrealistic specifications for mainly engine output required for the team to use a strong engine which wasn't available yet and with the oversized engine required for the task resulted in a sleek but stubby plane.
After the initial J2M1 prototypes outfitted with the 1,044 kW Mitsubishi MK4C Kasei 13 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine and didn't come near the specification requirements, engine vibrations coming from the cooling system and a troublesome undercarriage design held it back from being used as a production model.
The J2M2 Model 11 was outfitted with 1,379 kW Mitsubishi MK4R-A Kasei 23a 14-cylinder radial engine which somewhat overcame the teething problems but still didn't reach the requirements, overburdened with engine problems and electrical malfunctions in the landing gear remained.
Mitsubishi wanted to make the best of it and get out the J2Ms into combat service before it was officially adopted in the Navy. Engine problems and performance were only further resolved in further modifications.
The J2M3 Model 21 was developed parallel with the J2M2 Model 11 with improved armament of four 20 mm Type 99's in the wings (two Model 1s and two Model 2s).
Combat History
Production of the J2M3 Model 21 was parallel with the J2M2 Model 11 and the first J2M3s appeared in October 1943 but deliveries to combat units started at the beginning of February 1944.
Furthermore, the J2M2 and J2M3 saw limited action in the Philippines, although it was largely ineffective due to the limited initial production batch and design flaws.
Media
- Skins
- Images
- Videos
See also
- Mitsubishi J2M2 (previous model)
- Mitsubishi J2M4 Kai (following model)
External links
| Mitsubishi Company (三菱商会) | |
|---|---|
| Fighters | A5M4 · Hagiri's A5M4 |
| A6M2 mod. 11 · A6M2 · A6M3 · A6M3 mod. 22 · A6M3 mod. 22Ko · A6M5 · A6M5 Ko · A6M5 otsu · A6M5 Hei · A6M6c | |
| A7M1 (NK9H) · A7M2 | |
| J2M2 · J2M3 · J2M4 Kai · J2M5 · J2M5 (30 mm) | |
| Hydroplanes | F1M2 |
| Interceptors | Ki-83 · Ki-109 |
| Bombers | G4M1 |
| Ki-21-Ia · Ki-21-I hei · Ki-67-I Ko · Ki-67-I otsu | |
| Jet Fighters | Ki-200 |
| Captured | ▃A6M2 · ␗A6M2 |
| See also | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (Post-War) |
| Japan fighters | |
|---|---|
| Navy | |
| Carrier-based fighter | |
| A5M | A5M4 · Hagiri's A5M4 |
| A6M | A6M2 mod. 11 · A6M2 · A6M3 · A6M3 mod. 22 · A6M3 mod. 22Ko · A6M5 · A6M5 Ko · A6M5 otsu · A6M5 Hei · A6M6c |
| A7He | A7He1* |
| A7M | A7M1 (NK9H) · A7M2 |
| Land-based Fighter | |
| J2M | J2M2 · J2M3 · J2M4 Kai · J2M5 · J2M5 (30 mm) |
| J6K | J6K1 |
| J7W | J7W1 |
| N1K-J | N1K1-Ja · N1K2-J · N1K2-Ja |
| Fighter seaplane | |
| N1K | N1K1 |
| A6M-N | A6M2-N |
| Army | |
| Ki-10 | Ki-10-I · Ki-10-I C · Ki-10-II · Ki-10-II C |
| Ki-27 | Ki-27 otsu · Ki-27 otsu Tachiarai |
| Ki-43 | Ki-43-I · Ki-43-II · Ki-43-III otsu |
| Ki-44 | Ki-44-I · Ki-44-I 34 · Ki-44-II otsu · Ki-44-II hei |
| Ki-61 | Ki-61-I ko · Ki-61-I otsu · Ki-61-I hei · Tada's Ki-61-I hei · Ki-61-I tei · Ki-61-II Otsu Kai |
| Ki-84 | Ki-84 ko · Ki-84 otsu · Ki-84 hei |
| Ki-87 | Ki-87 |
| Ki-94 | Ki-94-II |
| Ki-100 | Ki-100 · Ki-100-II |
| Other countries | ▅F4U-1A · ▅P-51C-11-NT · ▅Bf 109 E-7 · ▅Fw 190 A-5 |
| *Imported designation of the He 112 (A6M was in development - A7M would take A7 designation after the cancelation of the A7He) | |
