Mizuno Shinryu

The Mizuno Shinryu/Shinryū (神竜) was a late-World War II Japanese rocket-powered suicide/interceptor concept. With Japan's situation becoming critical, the project never proceeded beyond the initial phase of development, possibly due to more prominent projects; J8M, Nakajima Kikka & ''Ki-201.

Development
The Mizuno Shinryu is one of many Japanese projects that never proceeded beyond development. Japan's situation between 1944-1945 was critical and the navy and army desperately needed new aircraft designs to help fend off the B-29 Superfortress raids. In response, aircraft companies Nakajima, Mitsubishi & Kawanishi contributed into developing some of their own designs along with developing Rocket and Jet engines.

The Shinryu is an aircraft which has become under much debate upon its role, type of plane, along with how it even came into question. Nearly all documents regarding the plane had been destroyed or lost, and only a small amount is said to have survived to allow us to identify what it looks like. The Shinryu as a whole is uncertain. The Shinryu may have been sanctioned by the Navy or even a private attempt to interest the Navy in the design. The Navy showed some consideration for the Shinryu as it was given the title of 'Navy Special Attack Glider'.

The designer of this aircraft is unknown. The name 'Mizuno' could be that of an individual or a small company. Of note, there was a Masakichi Mizuno who was an engineer for Mitsubishi during the pre-war years, but whether the creator of the Shinryu is the same man is not known. The shinryu can be clearly seen to have a late war project. Rocket propulsion was being developed and improved for new aircraft and tactics against the US. The Shinryu is believed to of had a similar role and method of deployment as the Yokosuka Ohka Model 43B and perhaps even the Model 53, to defend the homeland from the expected allied invasion and to be launched using minimal assets. The Shinryu was to be equipped with a rocket or set of rocket engines ( Tokuro-1, solid-fuel rockets) set in the rear of the fuselage. If the illustration above is at least accurate in the configuration, it is quite probable that the Shinryu took off under its own power, using the large wing area to gain lift quickly since the propellent for the rocket(s) could not have sustained the Shinryu for long. It may very well be that one rocket would have been sufficient to get the Shinryu airborne if the take-off weight was very low and the other rockets could have been used to sustain flight or to provide the high terminal dive speed which the rockets in the Ohka were designed for. However, this does contradict the idea that the Shinryu was designated as a glider. If it did not need a tow-plane to get it into the air nor was it catapult launched, then the Shinryu had an almost identical take-off/landing profile as the Mitsubishi J8M Shusui which was the Japanese variant of the German Messerschmitt Me 163 in that it took off under its own rocket engine, expended its fuel, then glided back to its base for landing which would, in some eyes, take it out of the glider category.

If one looks at the Shinryu as a glider, it would most likely have had to be towed into the air, the design of the craft making it pretty unsuitable for carrying beneath the fuselage of a mother aircraft. The pilot could then make use of the rockets to sustain altitude, cruise, and take advantage of the wing span to remain airborne for long periods. It is not known if there was any measure of landing gear, be it skids or some crude, droppable arrangement. If the Shinryu did take off under its own power ( or even towed ), it may well have had a jettisonable landing gear, much as the Nakajima Ki-115 Tsurugi was equipped with. If it was launched via catapult, perhaps any form of landing gear was not needed given the mission profile.

The Shinryu carried no armaments, except an explosive payload which was most likely carried in the nose or 8 x Unquided rockets (Type II Shinryu). Thus, it shared the same mission as the Ohkas. What is puzzling is why the Shinryu was considered as a shimpu aircraft. It can be reasoned that the Shinryu was much more difficult to build than the Ohka and had the Shinryu been deployed to counter the allied invasion of Japan, the later model Ohkas with the more reliable jet engines would have served the same purpose and could probably have been built quicker and with unskilled labor than the Shinryu. The Shinryu might also have been an off-shoot or influenced by other late war projects for it does share, if the illustration is even partially accurate, design concepts seen in the Kyushu J7W Shinden and even the Shusui.

Configuration
In configuration, it was to be a canard-winged design, with swept wings and tail fin. Two rocket engines were to be mounted in the rear, and the nose was to be fitted with an explosive warhead. Some versions of the design appear to have been intended to carry unguided rockets under the wings for interception of enemy bombers, similar to the intended role of the German Bachem Ba 349.

It is unclear today whether the engines were intended to provide power for take-off (like the Bachem Ba 349), or to accelerate the aircraft towards its target (like the Ohka). Similar to the Ohka, it could have been launched from coastal air bases and caves, and modified Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" or Yokosuka P1Y bombers. Its intended role, whether anti-ship, anti-aircraft, or anti-tank is still unclear.

Variants

 * Mizuno "Shinryū" Type I - Suicide Rocket Glider
 * Mizuno "Shinryū" Type II - Rocket Interceptor
 * Kokukyoku "Jinryu" - Proposed to have been the first 'Glider' variant

Operators

 * Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service
 * Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service