Zero was a military airplane used by Japan during World War II (1939-1945). It was a single-engine fighter plane designed by Mitsubishi. The plane’s official name was the Mitsubishi A6M Navy Type 0. The Zero was also called Zeke, the plane’s Allied code name, and Reisen, its Japanese name. The Zero became a lasting symbol of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). It was one of the most famous aircraft of World War II.
Most Zeroes carried one pilot, two heavy machine guns, and two 0.8-inch (20-millimeter) cannons. Many also carried bombs for surface attacks. Most models of the plane had a top speed of about 330 miles (530 kilometers) per hour. They had a maximum altitude of around 33,000 feet (10,050 meters). Designed as long-range carrier-based fighters, Zeroes could fly about 1,900 miles (3,050 kilometers).
Mitsubishi tested the first Zeroes in 1939. The fighters entered IJN service in 1940, flying combat missions in China. Zeroes dominated enemy fighters in the early years of World War II. They participated in the 1941 attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The planes went on to fight in nearly every major battle in the Pacific. By 1943, however, new U.S. fighter planes were faster, stronger, and more heavily armed. Air battles in the Pacific turned against the Japanese, and Zero losses mounted quickly.
By October 1944, the Zero’s role had been largely reduced to kamikaze (suicide attack) missions. Nearly 11,000 Zeroes were built, more than any other Japanese warplane.
See also Fighter plane ; World War II (The war in Asia and the Pacific) .
