The Nakajima Ki-27 (九七式戦闘機 , Kyūnana-shiki sentōki, or Type 97 Fighter)) was the main fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force up until 1940. Its Allied code name was "Nate", although it was called "Abdul" in the CBI theater by many post war sources; Allied Intelligence had reserved the name for the nonexistent Mitsubishi Navy Type 97 fighter, expected to be the successor to the Type 96 carrier-borne A5M with retractable land...
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The Nakajima Ki-27 (九七式戦闘機 , Kyūnana-shiki sentōki, or Type 97 Fighter)) was the main fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force up until 1940. Its Allied code name was "Nate", although it was called "Abdul" in the CBI theater by many post war sources; Allied Intelligence had reserved the name for the nonexistent Mitsubishi Navy Type 97 fighter, expected to be the successor to the Type 96 carrier-borne A5M with retractable landing gear and enclosed cockpit.
In 1935, the Imperial Japanese Army held a competition between Nakajima, Mitsubishi, and Kawasaki to design a low-wing monoplane to replace the Kawasaki Ki-10 (Army Type 95 Fighter) biplane.
The results were Nakajima Ki-27, Kawasaki Ki-28, and Mitsubishi Ki-33 (a modification of the Mitsubishi A5M carrier-based fighter). The Nakajima design was based on its earlier Ki-11 monoplane fighter which lost to the Ki-10 in the Type 95 Fighter competition. When the follow-up Nakajima Ki-12 proposal with a liquid-cooled...
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