In 1935, the Japanese Army Air Force announced a competition to develop a new fighter. It was supposed to replace the outdated Kawasaki Ki-10 biplane. Among the three companies that submitted their projects for the competition was Nakajima with its Ki-27 fighter. October 15, 1936 - the first flight of the Nakajima Ki-27 fighter.
It was a single-seat all-metal low-wing with a non-retractable landing gear. The Nakajima Kotobuki engine (650 hp) allowed speeds up to 444 km/h. The combat radius is 627 km . Armament ? 2 ? 7.7 mm Type 89 machine gun on early models and 12.7 mm Ho machine gun-103 + 7,7- mm machine gun on the late. It could also carry 4 ? 25 kg bombs.
The tests showed that the Ki-27 was inferior to the fighters of other companies in speed, but noticeably superior in maneuverability. In 1937, it was adopted under the designation Type 97. 3368 Ki-27 fighters were produced. Except #Japan, they were in service with the Air Forces of Manchukuo, Thailand, China and Indonesia.
