Ishikawajima Ne-20

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Ishikawajima Ne-20 was Japan’s first turbojet engine, developed during World War II by Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries. It was created alongside Japan’s first military jet, the Nakajima Kikka, because the earlier engines Tsu-11 and Ne-12 were not suitable for the Kikka. Only a small number were built, perhaps around fifty. Two Ne-20 engines powered the Kikka on its only flight on August 7, 1945. A few more were under construction when the war ended, and there were plans to use the Ne-20 in a version of the Ohka kamikaze, but this never happened. Today, three Ne-20s survive: one in Ishikawajima-Harima’s museum in Tanashi, and two in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.