Nakajima Ki-43-II Hayabusa

The Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa ("Peregrine Falcon") was a single-engine land-based fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in World War II. The army designation was "Type 1 Fighter"; the Allied codename was Oscar.

Like the Zero, the Ki-43 initially enjoyed air superiority in the skies of Malaya, Netherlands East Indies, Burma and New Guinea. This was partly to do with the better performance of the Oscar and partly due to the relatively small numbers of combat-ready Allied fighters, mostly the P-36, P-40, Brewster Buffalo, Hawker Hurricane and Curtiss-Wright CW-21 in Asia and the Pacific during the first months of the war. However, as the war progressed, the fighter suffered from the same weaknesses as the Ki-27 and the Mitsubishi Zero; light armor and less-than-effective self-sealing tanks, which caused high casualties in combat. Its armament of two machine guns also proved inadequate against the more heavily armored Allied aircraft. As newer Allied aircraft were introduced, such as the Vought Corsair, Hellcat and Seafire Mk III, the Japanese were forced into a defensive war and most aircraft were flown by inexperienced pilots.

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