Copyright 2010 by Brandon Cope  

Home Page

Back to Vehicles

Mitsubishi G3M "Nell" medium bomber

In the early 1930's, Admiral Yamamoto foresaw the use for a long range naval bomber operated from land bases. Mitsubishi built an unarmed demonstration aircraft. It had excellent range and speed and the company was requested to build an improved model for combat use. This was followed by a score of armed prototypes. In 1935, the G3M1 entered production, but only a few were made before replaced by the superior G3M2. The twin-engine, twin-rudder bomber saw extensive use in China and over 200 were still in front-line service in December 1941 However, those left were quickly relegated to lesser duties (such as glider tug, maritime patrol, and trainer) as the G4M was already available in relatively sufficient numbers. Like most Japanese aircraft, it suffered badly in combat by not having protection for it's crew and fuel tanks, as well as an inadequate defensive armament. A total of 1,022 G3M's were built, of which 343 were of the G3M2 Model 21 subtype starting in 1937.

The G3M2 Model 21 has a crew of five: Pilot, co-pilot, navigator (who also acts as bombardier and mans the forward dorsal gun), radio operator (who also mans the rear dorsal turret) and one gunner (rear ventral gun). The G3M2 uses 80 gallons of aviation fuel per hour at routine usage. The historical maximum range of the Model 21 was over 2,700 miles.

Subassemblies: Heavy Fighter-Bomber chassis +4, Light Bomber Wings +4, 2xLarge Weapon Engine Pods +2, 3xpartial rotation Medium Weapon turret +1, three retractable wheels +1.
Powertrain: 2x802-kW aerial HP supercharged gasoline engines [Pods] with 2x802-kW props, and 1,022-gallon standard fuel tanks [Body and Wings], 4,000-kw batteries
Occupancy: 5 CS Cargo: 20 Body.

Armor
All: 2/3

Weaponry
Aircraft LMG/Type 92 [Turret#1:F] (1,164)
Aircraft LMG/Type 92 [Turret#2:F] (1,164)
Aircraft LMG/Type 92 [Turret#3:F] (1,164)

Equipment
Body: Large radio receiver and transmitter, navigation instruments, autopilot., bombsight, 1,800-lb bomb bay, retractable turret.

Statistics

HT: 8.
HP: 260 [body], 300 [each wing], 120 [each pod], 25 [each wheel]
 

Design Notes
Design speed was 224 mph. The historical speed has been used, as well as the actual wing area (807 square feet). To better match historical weight, chassis and wing cost, weight and HPs were divided by 2. In the end, loaded weight still had to be decreased by 18%

Typical bombload was eight 100 kg bombs. Instead on the internal load, the “Nell” could carry a torpedo on a hardpoint underneath the fuselage.

Variants

The Ka-9 (1934) was the single unarmed prototype. Twenty-one more prototypes, primarily differing in the engines installed, under the designation Ka-15.

The G3M1 (1936) had 680-kW engines achieving 215 mph and the bomb load was carried externally. Fuel was 814 gallons. Only 34 were built.

The G3M2 Model 22 (1939) removed the rear dorsal turret and replaced it with a blister with a 20mm Type 99-1 (20mm Short Aircraft AC) cannon with 125 rounds. The ventral turret, which caused excessive drag when extended, was replaced with two staggered wast blisters (one per side) each with a Type 92 MG. Some sources claim a fixed forward-firing 7.7mm MG was provided, operated by the pilot. 238 were built by Mitsubishi and an unknown number of the 412 from Nakajima.

The G3M3 Model 23 (1941) was externally similar to the Model 22, but had 970-kW engines providing a top speed of 258 mph. Fuel tankage was increased to 1,367 gallons, giving a 3,700 mile range. An unknown number was made out of the total of 412 built by Nakajima.

“Tina” was the Allied codename given to the transport version of the G3M. Twenty-four (based on the Model 21) were built for civil use in Japan. They carried no armament, had a crew of three and carried eight passengers. An unknown number were converted from Model 22 and 23 planes; these differed from the civilian version by having a retractable dorsal turret with a Type 92 MG.