![]() The A6M was designated as the Mitsubishi Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter, or the Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen. During the last months of the war the surviving Zeroes were used in futile attempts to defend the Japanese homeland from Allied bombardment and in suicide raids on Allied shipping.The Mitsubishi A6M Zero was a long-range fighter aircraft, manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. The prototype appeared in April 1945, but the course of the war and the ruinous state of the Japanese aircraft industry meant that the proposed production program (6,300 aircraft) never got started. The A6M5 set fight earlier weaknesses in the Zero – insufficient armament, light structure and lack of protection for pilots and fuel tanks – but in the end proved no match, qualitatively or quantitatively, for the Allied fighters.Ī final attempt to achieve parity was made with the development of the last of the Zeroes, the A6M8 powered by a 1,560 hp Mitsubishi Kinsei engine. This model was developed in the hope of producing an aircraft that could stand up to the American Hellcats and Corsairs. The autumn of 1943 saw the first deliveries of the Mitsubishi A6M5, perhaps the best of the Zeros. This version had a more powerful engine and heavier armament. The second main version of the Zero, the A6M3, made its appearance at the time of the Battle of Midway. The Allies were gaining strength and introducing newer and more powerful aircraft. ![]() The Japanese lost a great many Zeroes, and ran into difficulties in replacing men and aircraft. The turning point came after this battle. The Zero made a decisive contribution to Japan’s early successes in the war, and from Pearl Harbor until the Battle of Midway in June 1942 the Mitsubishi fighter (called ‘Zeke’ by the Allies) dominated the Pacific skies. It was superior to the Allied types of the period, especially in speed and maneuverability. When Japan went to war the A6M2 was the Navy’s leading carrier-based fighter. The first examples of the initial variant, the A6M2, finished their tests in July 1940, and two months later the Zero made its operational debut in China. The third prototype was equipped with a 940 hp Nakajima NK1C Sakae 12 engine, and performance improved further. Its performance was excellent even during the initial tests. The first prototype, powered by a 780 hp Mitsubishi Zuisei 13 radial engine, made its maiden flight on April 1, 1939. The new aircraft was to have a maximum speed of more than 300 mph (500 km/h) at 13,000 ft (4,000 m) time to 10,000 ft (3,000 m) of nine and a half minutes endurance of eight hours at cruising speed with extra fuel tanks, or two hours at combat speeds a short take-off distance maneuverability at least equal to that of the Mitsubishi A5M and two 20-mm cannon, two 7.7 mm machine guns, and 132 pounds (60 kg) of bombs. The specification had been modified in October 1937 in the light of the earlier type’s combat experience in China. Mitsubishi and Nakajima both wanted the contract, but Nakajima withdrew after a few months on the grounds that the specification could not be met. The Zero’s designer, Jiro Horikoshi, set to work in early summer 1937 in response to a Japanese Navy specification for a carrier-based fighter to replace the Mitsubishi A5M, which was just going into service at the time. The A6M Zero was also the first carrier-based fighter to outperform its land-based contemporaries. During its long career, the Zero became as famous in Japan as the Spitfire in Britain and the Messerschmitt Bf109 in Germany. A total of 11,283 of these fighters came off the production lines in several versions between March 1939 and August 1945. More Zeroes were built than any other Japanese aircraft in the course of the war.
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