The initial prototype was unveiled on March 16th, 1939 and achieved first flight on April 1st of that year. On September 14th, the aircraft was officially adopted by the IJN as its new standardized carrier-based fighter mount. Initial aircraft were powered by a Mitsubishi engine (Zuisei line) until a decided shift was made towards a Nakajima product. The Mitsubishi aircraft was adopted as the A6M "Zero-sen" Type 00 Fighter and saw its first service in July of 1940 against the Chinese. It quickly proved itself the finest fighter in the world and bested nearly all opponents in the Asian and Pacific theaters and certainly alerted observers in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere but nothing was done to further investigate the type.
Production of A6Ms eventually eclipsed all other Japanese aircraft of the war. Mitsubishi was its maker but additional manufacture was handled through competitor Nakajima who produced over 6,200 examples alone. Additional production was seen from Hitachi and Sasebo and included a floatplane derivative which also saw extensive service in the war.
By the time of the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7th, 1941, the IJN managed a stable of some 400 Zero fighters and the carrier groups to field them. Zeros took part in the devastating attacks which rendered many USN warships useless or damaged and thrust the United States into a formal war declaration against the Empire of Japan. From there on, the A6M was fielded in all major Japanese campaigns and retained its air dominance heading into 1942 and 2 x 132lb bombs were added for the ground strike role. The aircraft now deserved the respect of Washington observers and its capabilities were fully noticed.
It was not until the middle of 1942 that the Allies managed to capture an intact A6M and study it from the inside out back in the United States. It was from this work that the weaknesses of the Mitsubishi aircraft were soon discovered and new counter tactics arranged for Allied pilots. The lack of armoring proved a critical design flaw in the Zero and Allied pilots would work at exploiting this fatal flaw. Additionally, the United States Navy was now turning to more modern, capable fighting mounts in their F6F Hellcats and F4U Corsairs replacing outgoing frontline types like the F4F Wildcats. The turning point in the early stages of the Pacific war then came at the Battle of Midway in June of 1942 where these new American fighters squared off against incoming waves of Zeros and earned a tremendous victory in the process. The Americans benefitted from armoring of critical components, improved weaponry and tactics and increased performance from dominant engines. Against this, the Zero had now met its official match.
From 1943 onwards, the Zero proved a far lesser, more vulnerable foe than seen in the early stages of the war. A "definitive" Zero was produced as the A6M8 which incorporated a Nakajima Kinsei engine of 1,560 horsepower but the arrival of this variant proved a moot addition. Tide had shifted away from the Japanese Empire and for the Allies and territorial losses mounted into 1945. The Zero was eventually relegated as a carrier for suicidal airmen in the kamikaze strikes that followed. These were outfitted with 1 x 550lb bombs for maximum carnage.
Operators beyond the Imperial Japanese Navy were few and included Thailand. Post-war use was seen by China (Republic of China) and Indonesia. Several airframes exist in flyable form today and many have survived as museum showpieces. Some have had screen time in several motion pictures to date.
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