Kawazaki Ki-31Yu Kujira deployment craft

The Kawazaki **Ki-31Yu** "Kujira", also known as the "Carrier-Jira", is the transport variant of the Kawazaki Ki-31 Kujira, and was the first variant to be produced. It is a large military transport spaceplane with a heavy interplanetary-range strategic lift capability, capable of carrying oversized loads around a planet, from orbit to a planet's surface and vice versa, and between planets.

The Ki-31Yu has been operated by the Yamatai Imperial Army as its main strategic airlift craft since 2531. The SNLF also uses the Ki-31Yu for troop and materiel-landing purposes.

## Design

### Overview

The Ki-31Yu is a large cargo spaceplane with a distinctive "hump" dorsal-mounted wing/engine assembly, with six turbofan jet engines mounted in this assembly. An additional two ion thrusters are mounted on either side of the rear fuselage for propulsion in space. The Ki-31Yu has 12 internal wing tanks and is equipped for in-flight refuelling. It is equipped with a short-range FTL drive capable of interplanetary travel.

Above the plane-length cargo deck is an upper deck for flight operations and for seating 75 passengers, including the embarked loadmaster crew, all whom face to the rear of the craft during flight. Fully-opening bay doors at both nose and tail enable "drive-through" loading and unloading of cargo.

   Takeoff and landing distance requirements for the plane at maximum-load gross weight are 2,500 metres and 1,500 metres, respectively, though it may be shortened through the use of manoeuvring thrusters to slow the craft as it lands. Its high flotation main landing gear provides 28 wheels to distribute gross weight on paved or earth surfaces. The rear main landing gear can be steered to make a smaller turning radius; it is rotated 90 degrees after takeoff before being retracted. "Kneeling" landing gear permits lowering the aircraft when parked, thereby presenting the cargo deck at truck-bed height to facilitate loading and unloading operations.

The cargo compartment is 37 metres long, 4.1 metres high, and 5.8 metres wide, or just over 880 cubic metres. It can accommodate up to 36 master pallets or a mix of palletized cargo and vehicles. The nose and aft cargo-bay doors open the full width and height of the cargo bay to maximize efficient loading of oversized equipment. Full width ramps enable loading double rows of vehicles from either end of the cargo hold. 470 people may be carried in the cargo bay, which is environmentally sealed. The Ki-31Yu is capable of moving nearly every type of military combat equipment, including kits to assemble naval craft on the surface of planets.

## Specifications (Ki-31Yu Model 15)

**General characteristics**

* Crew: 7 typical (aircraft commander, pilot, two flight engineers, three loadmasters)
	+ 3 minimum (pilot, copilot, flight engineer)
* Payload: 280,000 kg
* Length: 72.0 m
* Wingspan: 102.0 m
* Height: 17.0 m
* Empty weight: 282,000 kg
* Leaded weight: 631,000 kg
* Max. takeoff weight: 310,000 kg
* Powerplant: 6x Kawazaki FuTa-4990-ARu high-bypass turbofan, 2x Mitsushishi ŌRaMe-204o large-scale ion engines

**Performance**

* Maximum speed (Atmosphere): 932 km/h
* Cruise speed (Atmosphere): 919 km/h
* FTL Capabilities: Inter-system FTL capable, some variants have short-range interstellar capability.