Mitsubishi A6M Zero - Was A Fury

Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero Model 22 (NX712Z), recovered from New Guinea in 1991 and used in the film Pearl Harbor

The Mitsubishi A6M Zero was a long-range fighter aircraft operated by the IJN (Imperial Japanese Navy) from 1940 to 1945. The A6M was designated as the Mitsubishi Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighter (零式艦上戦闘機 rei-shiki-kanjou-sentouk), and also designated as the Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen and Mitsubishi Navy 12-shi Carrier Fighter. 

The A6M was usually referred to by the Allies as the "Zero", from 1940 the year in which the aircraft entered service with the Imperial Navy. The official Allied reporting name was "Zeke". When it was introduced early in World War II, the Zero was considered the most capable carrier-based fighter in the world, combining excellent maneuverability and very long range. 

In early combat operations, the Zero gained a legendary reputation as a dogfighter, achieving the outstanding kill ratio of 12 to 1, but by mid-1942 a combination of new tactics and the introduction of better equipment enabled the Allied pilots to engage the Zero on more equal terms.The IJNAS also frequently used the type as a land-based fighter. 

Divergence of trajectories between 7.7 mm and 20mm ammunition

By 1943, inherent design weaknesses and the failure to develop more powerful aircraft engines meant that the Zero became less effective against newer enemy fighters that possessed greater firepower, armor, and speed, and approached the Zero's maneuverability. Although the Mitsubishi A6M was outdated by 1944, it was never totally supplanted by the newer Japanese aircraft types. During the final years of the War in the Pacific, the Zero was used in kamikaze operations. In the course of the war, more Zeros were built than any other Japanese aircraft.

Cockpit (starboard console) of a damaged A6M2 which crashed during the raid on Pearl Harbor into Building 52 at Fort Kamehameha, Oahu, during the 7 December 1941 raid on Pearl Harbor. The pilot, who was killed, was NAP1/c Takeshi Hirano; aircraft's tail code was "AI-154".

A6M3 Model 22, flown by Japanese Ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa over the Solomon Islands, 1943

A6M3 Model 32.

Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero wreck abandoned at Munda Airfield, Central Solomons, 1943

Carrier A6M2 and A6M3 Zeros from the aircraft carrier Zuikaku preparing for a mission at Rabaul

Mitsubishi A6M5 Model 52s abandoned by the Japanese at the end of the war (Atsugi Naval air base) and captured by US forces

Mitsubishi A6M "Rei Sen" (Zeke) captured in flying condition and test flown by U.S. airmen

A6M taking off during Battle of Santa Cruz Islands (1942)

The Akutan Zero is inspected by US military personnel on Akutan Island on 11 July 1942.

A6M2 "Zero" Model 21 (front) on Shokaku. (Shokaku distinguishable from the white band on the fuselage just ahead of the tail) to attack Pearl Harbor during the morning of 7 December 1941. This is probably the launch of the second attack wave. The original photograph was captured on Attu in 1943

Cockpit of an A6M5 Zero Imperial War Museum

A6M2 Zero photo c. 2004

A6M2 Model 21 on display at the Pacific Aviation Museum, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This aircraft was made airworthy in the early 1980s before it was grounded in 2002.

A6M5 on display at the National Air and Space Museum

Mitsubishi A6M2 "Zero" Model 21 on the flight deck of carrier Shokaku, 26 October 1942, Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands

Mitsubishi A6M2 "Zero" Model 21 takes off from the aircraft carrier Akagi, to attack Pearl Harbor.