Mitsubishi A6M Zero (Reisen)
The carrier fighter that stunned the Allies in the first year of war.
The Zero was a shock to the Allies: a carrier fighter faster, more manoeuvrable, and longer-ranged than anything they possessed. Its secret was extreme weight-saving — no armour, no self-sealing tanks. That compromise made it devastating in the early war and a death trap once Allied fighters learned its vulnerabilities.
01Covered the attack on Pearl Harbor and swept Allied fighters from the skies of the Philippines, Malaya, and the Dutch East Indies. The Zero's range in particular — extraordinary for a fighter of the era — allowed it to appear where it was not expected.
02Allied tactics caught up in 1943 and 1944. The "Thach Weave," developed by Lt. Cdr. John Thach of the US Navy, turned the Zero's lack of armour into a fatal weakness — any hit from a .50 cal was likely to set it on fire. By 1944, the Zero was increasingly outmatched by the Hellcat, Corsair, and P-38.
03Late in the war, Zeros were increasingly used as kamikaze aircraft — the very weight savings that made them so agile made them cheap to expend. The type remained in front-line service to the end, a symbol of Japan's fading naval air power.
Theatres of operation
- ·Pacific
- ·China
Principal operators
- ·Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service
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