The design was a development of the Type 2 Land-based reconnaisance plane, to which was fixed two sets of machine guns firing upward and downward at a forward angle, placed in the fuselage behind the cabin, similar to the German Schräge Musik configuration. This arrangement was initially conceived by units active in the Pacific theater who had used it effectively against B-17s in Rabaul, and soon officially adopted by the Navy. Later models had only one lower-firing gun and three upward-firing ones.
The J1N was used against B-29s in Japan, though the lack of good radar and insufficient high-altitude performance handicapped it, and a number were relegated to kamikaze attacks.
The Nakajima J1N1 was a twin-engine aircraft used by the Japanese Imperial Navy during World War II and was used for reconnaissance, night fighter, and kamikaze missions.
NakajimaJ1N at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
Originally, the J1N was designed as a fighter, but early prototypes were judged too heavy and production was authorized for a three person crew reconnaissance variant, the J1N1-C and was also known by the Navy designation Type 2 Reconnaissance.
The NakajimaJ1N Gekko (月光, "Moonlight") was a twin-engine night fighter used by the Japanese Imperial Navy during World War II.
The design was a development of the Type 2 Land-based reconnaisance plane, to which was fixed two sets of machine guns firing upward and downward at a forward angle, placed in the fuselage behind the cabin, similar to the German Schräge Musik configuration.
The J1N was used against B-29s in Japan, though the lack of good radar and insufficient high-altitude performance handicapped it, and a number were relegated to kamikaze attacks.
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