The Aichi Ha-70 was a compound engine composed of two 1,700 hp 12-cylinder liquid-cooled inverted V-12 Aichi Atsuta aircraft engines mounted to a common gearbox. The only aircraft powered by the Ha-70 was the Yokosuka R2Y, an Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) prototype reconnaissance aircraft that was designed and built near the end of World War II.
In common with Daimler-Benz, Aichi Kokuki KK joined two Aichi Atsuta engines to drive a single propeller through a combining gearbox in very similar fashion to the Daimler Benz DB 606 (two Daimler-Benz DB 601 engines coupled to a gearbox),
The Yokosuka R2Y prototype reconnaissance aircraft required a new engine of 3400abbr=onNaNabbr=on and after studying the Daimler-Benz DB 606A-2 engine that powered the Heinkel He 119 single-engine reconnaissance bomber, Aichi determined that the required horsepower could be attained by coupling two Atsuta engines with a common gearbox. To obtain the required power the Atsuta would require up-rating by at least 300abbr=onNaNabbr=on horsepower; Aichi continued to improve the Atsuta 32, eventually extracting the required 1700abbr=onNaNabbr=on
The two inverted Vee Atsuta engines were mounted side-by-side, each rotated outboard from the centre-line so that the inner banks were upright, with sufficient room between them for the exhaust manifolds. The engines were attached to a gearbox that combined the two separate engine drives into a single output shaft.[1]
Fitted to the R2Y the Ha-70 was mounted behind the pilot, requiring a long drive shaft to drive the nose-mounted gear box that mounted the six-bladed propeller.