Aircraft · Japan · 1940-1945
Mitsubishi A6M Zero
carrier fighter
Mitsubishi's carrier fighter combined long range and extreme agility by stripping out armor and self-sealing fuel tanks, and it outclassed every Allied fighter it met in 1941-42. Nearly 11,000 were built, making it the most-produced Japanese aircraft of the war. By 1944 faster, better-protected American fighters like the Hellcat had turned its lightness into a fatal weakness.
| crew | 1 |
|---|---|
| top speed | 533 km/h |
| armament | 2x 20mm cannon, 2x 7.7mm MG |
| range | 3,105 km |
| produced | 10,939 |