Swinging Sword: A Ki-200 Guide

An in-depth look at the Ki-200 Shusui or "Swinging Sword"

A Bit of History

The J8M or Ki-200 (J8M being the IJN's name) was a Japanese license-built copy of the German Me-163 Komet. The two planes were thus strikingly similar in both performance and aesthetics. This rocket-powered interceptor was desired by Japan's military due to the threat of B-29 raids over the Japanese mainland. They needed something that was fast, could climb very quickly and had adequate firepower to down a superfortress. The answer - an Me-163 Komet. After having purchased the rights to produce such an aircraft from Germany, an example and several components were sent to Japan via submarine. The initial flight test results revealed a catastrophic failure as the first examples of the rocket crashed or blew up upon takeoff. Nonetheless, by 1945 the J8M/Ki-200 was ready for full scale production but only a handful of examples were ever made.

In-Game Overview & Basics

The Ki-200 sits at a 7.0 battle rating in realistic battles. As a rocket, you are the fastest plane at this battle rating. Some of the most common enemies you will face are P-80s, F-80s, Meteor F.3s and Sea Meteors, as well as the usual F7F and F8F. For the most part, you have incredible advantages over anything you will face. The main downfall of the Ki-200 is that it only has 6 minutes of fuel. Because of this, fights cannot last long periods of time and you must always be aware of the closest airfield location. In my opinion, that is the reason why the Ki-200 is at 7.0 BR.

Another handi-cap of the Ki-200 is that the wings are very fragile. Any sort of high speed turn will result in your plane being brutally and mercilessly decapitated. It's not fun to have that, is it? Don't worry, avoiding this is easy :)

From the start of a match

People often don't know what to do with the Ki-200 at the start of a match. On every single map you join, you will get an air start. You can choose to climb, which is time consuming and uses fuel, or you can do what I suggest which is to race full-throttle towards the enemy. By doing this, you can often catch unknowing enemy aircraft AFK climbing. Had you climbed, you would have reached the enemy later and they may not have been AFK.

Once again, DO NOT try to turnfight at speeds exceeding 450 MPH/720KPH. If you want to turn or maneuver, throttle down and jiggle your rudder so the plane slows down. By doing this, you can almost certainly avoid ripping your wings.

Dogfights in Realistic Battles

Some of the aircraft you will face while flying the Ki-200 are the P-80, F-80, F-84, Meteor F.3, Sea Meteor, and the usual Tempest/F7F/F8F. As a rocket, you have almost unprecedented advantage over all of these aircraft. The Ki-200 has an astounding climb rate rivaling that of the MiG-15. Due to this, you can choose when and where you want to engage enemy aircraft. Having this is the most important advantage one can have whilst flying the Ki-200. Once you lose this ability, you are able to be destroyed. An example of this would be when you are almost out of fuel and/or ammunition and are forced to land.

Another huge advantage you have over jet and prop aircraft is your ability to turn. The Ki-200 can virtually turn on a dime, allowing you to even out turn propellor aircraft. However if you try to turn at high speeds your plane will break.

Since aircraft like the P-80 and F-80 suck at turning, they will often try to run by diving down to the ground. This is good because once you catch them, they will have no place to run to. Once they turn or do any sort of maneuver, they lose all of their energy and are very slow, thus making them an easy target to hit.

The main points-

• Watch your fuel
  
• Watch your speeds when turning/diving
• Have situational awareness
  
• Decide the terms of attack
  
• Execute the master plan :))))))

Getting your guns on target

The Ki-200's armament consists of 2 Type-5 30mm cannons. The Ki-200 only has 120 rounds of ammunition so it is essential you hit your target accurately. For this, I would not recommend attempting deflection shots. It is simply too easy for you to get up close and personal with an enemy and kill them with usually less than 20 rounds. That being said, learning how to lead for long range shots is unnescessary while flying the Ki-200. However, you may come upon situations in which you are following an enemy jet and can't close distance. In those situations, it is very helpful to know how to deliver 30mm shells at a longer distance. Usually, it isn't difficult to hit those shots but it can become aggravating due to the cannons jerking left and right from recoil. I would advise against long, arduous engagements (I.E. following an F-80 and not being able to close the distance) because you waste too much fuel and risk not being able to return to an airfield even if you destroy the plane.

Japanese 30mm cannons often "spark" meaning on your screen the round registered but clientside it didn't. In order to combat this, you have to get up close with the enemy and hit them where it hurts. Usually, you can demolish any enemy plane with a well placed burst.

Maneuvering & Landing

To fully master the Ki-200 it is important to learn how to maneuver and land effectively. I would strongly advise against vertical maneuvers in the Ki-200. Even if you are at speeds under 450 MPH/720 KPH it becomes very easy to rip your wings in vertical dives. That being said, do not try to quickly nose up after any sort of vertical maneuver. Come back to your old buddy the horizontal turn :). You may think because the Ki-200 is the Tier 5 aircraft it must be bad at turning, but that is simply not the case. The Ki-200 is a blend between a Zero, a MiG 15, and a Sabre. It turns like nothing, has an incredible climb rate, and can reach very high top speeds.


In order to land with the Ki-200, you must come into the runway on a slow approach. The Ki-200 has gear and landing flaps, but I would only recommend using the gear to lose air speed coming into the landing. If you hit the runway too hard with the gear down, the plane goes into a derpy up and down motion sort of like there are imaginary hills on the runway. Belly landings are much more efficient not only because you avoid the derp, but because the aircraft will slow down incredibly quickly. In general, land it like a prop plane but without landing gear. It is possible to land on aircraft carriers although it requires some skill. You have to come in extremely slow and without gear. Essentially, you want to hit the deck with as little speed as possible so you stop. I would recommend trying to land at speeds no less than 130 MPH/210 KPH.

Common Enemies/Maps

Enemies

• P-80
  
• F-80
  
• F-84
  
• F8F
  
• F7F
  
• Meteor F.3
  
• Sea Meteor/Sea Jesus
  
• Tempest Mk.2

Maps

• Saipan
  
• New Guinea
  
• Mozdok
  
• Various (mixed battles)

Bomber Hunting?

I did not mention this at all in the guide because I specifically want to adress the issue of bombers here. Personally, I do not go after bombers while flying the Ki-200 because when flying the Japanese at late tier 4/5 you often have a mixture of Ki-200 (the dogfighters) R2Y2 (the bomber killers) and various props which are hybrids. Due to the lack of ammo in the Ki-200 I would not recommend going after bombers unless they are the only plane left on the enemy team. You simply waste too much ammo for too little a reward. The R2Y2 is much more suited for bomber killing as it has 4x 30mm cannons with plenty of ammunition.

However, if you do decide to engage a bomber I would advise attacking from above and behind where you can get easy shots on the bomber's wing roots and fuselage. You may also come straight down and aim for the wings but once again, be careful pulling up from the dive. Some common bombers you may face are the Lancasters, B-17G, B-29, and B-24. The Lancaster is virtually defenceless so any attack you choose is viable.

You may also rarely see B-57s, although defenceless they are extremely fast. I would recommend attacking them head on if they are at their top speed. Otherwise, they are extremely hard to catch even with the Ki-200.

Wrapping Up

Overall, the Ki-200 is one of the most deadly yet underestimated planes in War Thunder. It combines extreme maneuverability with unrivaled climb rate and damage output. Still, this is not a "crutch plane" as it requires immense skill and discipline to fly. I learned the hard way about trying to turn while going 550 MPH :)

I hope this guide helped you and if you don't fly the Ki-200 maybe it helped you learn how to destroy one :)

Feel free to check out my 190 D guide
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=413946167

[lol im a weetad? 󰀅󰀆󰀅]

like I said, I haven't played the Ki-200 since the update, I have played the R2Y2 and i've been matched with ki 200s quite often especially in mixed battles

[Donquidik]

Actually, every game they find themselves fighting MiG-15bis and Sabres as well as F9F and Meteor mk. 4's.....

[lol im a weetad? 󰀅󰀆󰀅]

I could upgrade this but i'm having too much fun flying the D-13 currently, and I don't really want to change all of this. I have seen a ki 200 in a Japanese prop match but I think they usually fight F2H/F-80/MiG 9/whatever

[Donquidik]

Its not sushi, that's like me calling the city New York "Mint" its insulting and being a faggot. Please don't call the swinging sword a cheap meal.

[Donquidik]

You may want to update this, as the information is a little off due to it's new BR.

[jeij]

Sushi jet :3

[CealLion]

yeah true butt with the mig-15 climb speed ki-200 is fucked and right now i killed one with mah mig-9 i can say he make a mistake going face to face with me lol

[lol im a weetad? 󰀅󰀆󰀅]

Sorry, I don't have the 163, but all I can say is make use of your incredible acceleration. It takes a lot of time for Sabres and Migs to build up speed but with rocket aircraft you can go from 0-100 real quick. Dive in and out of fights and utilize cloud cover. The MiG and Sabre will not be able to out turn you as well.

[| BusteR |]

you need to make a 163 one, i want to know how to fight sabres and migs.

[lol im a weetad? 󰀅󰀆󰀅]

They are similar aircraft but the 163 has mk 108 cannons which are generally much more effective in terms of hitting power than what the Ki-200 has, so there's that