The Mitsubishi Ki-15 Karigane, Army Type 97 Command Reconnaissance was a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft and a light attack bomber of the Second Sino-Japanese War and Pacific War.
It was a single-engine, low-wing, cantilever monoplane with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage; it carried a crew of two.
Variants
Karigane I
Prototype version for civilian use
Ki-15-I
Initial production variant for the Japanese Army, with Nakajima Ha-8 (Army Type 94) 640 hp at take-off, 900 hp at 11,810 ft (3,600 m)
Ki-15-II
Improved Army production version with smaller, more powerful engine 14-cylinder Mitsubishi Ha-25-I, with 850 hp at take-off, 900 hp at 11,810 ft.
Ki-15-III
Proposed upgraded version, did not enter production version.
It had the Mitsubishi Ha-102 engine (1,080 hp at take-off, 1,055 hp at 9,185 ft and 950 hp at 19,030 ft), with a top speed of 329 mph (530 km/h).
C5M1
(Navy Type 98 Reconnaissance Aircraft Model I)
Improved version of Ki-15-I for the Japanese Navy
C5M2
(Navy Type 98 Reconnaissance Aircraft Model 2)
Upgraded version of C5M1 with more powerful engine for the Japanese Navy