Grumman F6F Hellcat
The carrier fighter engineered expressly to kill the Zero — and did.
The Hellcat was the workhorse that won the Pacific air war. Designed from hard lessons learned against the Zero, it sacrificed nothing in performance for ruggedness, armour, or firepower. Over the course of the war, Hellcat pilots claimed 5,163 enemy aircraft — over 75% of all US Navy air-to-air victories.
01Incorporated feedback from an intact A6M2 captured in the Aleutians (the "Akutan Zero"). Designers strengthened the structure, added armour and self-sealing tanks, and mated the airframe to the massive R-2800 radial.
02Debuted at Marcus Island in August 1943. During the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" in June 1944, Hellcats helped annihilate Japanese carrier air power: roughly 346 Japanese aircraft were shot down for the loss of 30 American.
03Produced night-fighter variants with APS-6 radar that hunted Japanese bombers from carrier decks after dark. The kill ratio of 19:1 against all enemy types — 13:1 against the Zero specifically — is one of the most dominant in air combat history.
Theatres of operation
- ·Pacific
Principal operators
- ·US Navy
- ·US Marine Corps
- ·Royal Navy FAA
Others in the same fight.
Supermarine Spitfire
Mk.I — Mk.24
Hawker Hurricane
Mk.I — Mk.IV
North American P-51 Mustang
P-51B / C / D / K
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
P-47C / D / M / N