The G4M was conceived as a long range, land-based medium bomber for the Japanese Imperial Navy. Combat radius was the most important requirement since the Japanese fleet was severely weakened by Western Treaties and bombers would have to operate far from land. To achieve fuel efficiency, a very streamlined design was adopted and the airframe structure was built to be as light as possible. Armour protection and self defence guns were kept to a minimum. In order to gain as much range as possible, the G4M was designed to store fuel in the wing cell structure rather than having self-contained fuel tanks in the wings. Again to save weight, these fuel cells did not have self-sealing bladders. The design results were noteworthy as the G4M could achieve a speed of 230kt (420km/hr) and had a range of over 3,700 miles (5,900km). However the bomb load was modest in the range of only 1,8001b (800kg). In comparison to the similar sized He 111 the G4M carried less than half the bomb load more than twice as far with a similar top speed.
No comments:
Post a Comment