and Iwo Jima-based P-51s and P-47s escorting B-29s over the skies of Japan brought the Ki-45's career to an end. The next version, the Kawasaki Ki-45 KAId, was developed specifically as a night fighter, which was supposed to be equipped with centimetric radar in the nose; due to production difficulties, this did not occur. The aircraft took part in night defense of the Home Islands and equipped four sentais from the autumn of 1944 to the war's end. They obtained notable successes, and one Ki-45 sentai claimed 150 victories, including eight USAAF B-29 Superfortresses in their first combat. The Ki-45 was to be replaced in the ground-attack role by the Ki-102, but was not wholly supplanted by the war's end. Three Ki-45s fell into communist Chinese hands after World War II. Unlike most captured Japanese aircraft, which were employed in the training role, the three Ki-45s were assigned to the 1st Squadron of the Combat Flying Group in March 1949 and were used in combat missions. These aircraft were retired in the early 1950s. Variants There is sometimes a confusion in the different subtypes. The information below is based on Japanese work, not on usual 'western' data. Even the NASM claims that the Ki-45 on display is a hei (c) type whereas Japanese press would read it is a tei (d) type nightfighter version with dorsal armament. Ki-45 Prototype aircraft KI-45 Type 1 Modified operative models Ki-45 KAI Prototype aircraft Ki-45 KAI Pre-series aircraft Ki-45 KAIa (ko/甲)Toryu: Two-seat fighter Type 2 of the army (Mark A) initial model of series, one 20 mm Ho-3 in ventral position, two Ho-103 12.7 mm in the nose and a flexible 7.92 mm in the back position Ki-45 KAIb (otsu/乙) retrofit version based on the KAIa, 20 mm belly cannon replaced by a 37 mm type 94 anti-tank gun Ki-45 KAIc (hei/丙) Mark C version against naval objectives, one 37 mm (1.46 in) Ho-203 automatic cannon in the nose, one 7.92 mm (.312 in) machine gun in the back position. Ki-45 KAId (tei/丁) Mark D, a modified Model B, night fighter version, equipped with one 37 mm (1.46 in) Ho-203 cannon in nose and two fixed 20 mm Ho-5 cannons in a Schräge Musik-style dorsal frontal position, and one 7.92 mm (.312 in) Type 98 machine gun in the back position Ki-45 II Single-seat fighter prototype; later re-designated Ki-96 Total production: 1,691 or 1,701