The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" The Fighter's Name Says it all
The "Zero"-Zero Myths About it are True
There are already multiple articles and videos about how obsolete the main Japanese carrier based fighter of WW2 was, but a good pun was thought of so this article had to be written. The A6M Zero was built with many ambitious goals, only some of which would actually be useful. When the Imperial Japanese navy ordered a fighter with such range maneuverability, firepower, and speed Nakajima decided it was impossible to design it with their low budget and backed out, but Mitsubishi stayed in. Many corners were cut and the fighter was made as light as possible and lacking many crucial components.
In the beginning of the war, the Zero was much more maneuverable than the allied planes and had two 30 caliber machine guns --somewhat effective for close range combat-- and two deadly 20mm cannons. The 20mm could tear enormous holes in the American bombers, as seen in the image below. Against the Navy fighters used early in the war, it would always emerge victorious. However, the navy was using the F4F Wildcat, P40 Warhawk, and the P39 Airacobra to challenge it. Those fighters were not only much under-powered compared to the A6M, but also slower less maneuverable and had shorter range. In fact, these fighter stood no chance at all. But after the battle of Midway, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) lost superiority over the United States Navy (USN). Soon, a somewhat intact Zero was captured and its severe flaws were finally discovered.
The Zero is the perfect name for it. It had zero armor, zero hydraulics, zero self sealing fuel tanks, zero aluminum, and almost zero trained pilots. Meanwhile new American fighters such as the F4U Corsair and the F6F Hellcat were much more powerful than the A6M, which was never improved to face this new foe. Allied Pilots were taught to not try to out-maneuver it at low speed, but very high speed. Without hydraulics, the plane could only turn as much as the pilots were strong enough to make it turn. At high speeds there is more aerodynamic force on the control surfaces, making them harder to move, and the lack of hydraulics meant it was nearly impossible to turn when at high speeds. If one of the Zero's fuel tanks was hit, it was not made to seal itself and it would catch fire. That was a serious problem because nobody would trade with Japan, so they did not have very much aluminum to build planes with. Instead, they used magnesium as a light-weight metal. Magnesium is very flammable and burns at very high temperatures so water cannot put it out. That meant the entire plane would catch fire and crash. With these new tactics, the Americans had risen up above the Japanese and were taking down more planes and pilots than Japan could supply. Now, hastily trained pilots were going into combat and eventually brought about the Kamikaze fighters. These would drop their bombs/torpedoes on an enemy target then turn around and crash into it. The damage was devastating if done correctly. However, when more pilots tried this, they couldn't deal with the high speeds of the dive and crashed into the water while desperately pulling on the yoke.
The Zero went from a highly superior fighter to having zero advantages over the Allies. This fighter is a Metaphor for all the great empires of the world, including the Romans, Byzantines, Mongolians, French, Ottomans, Fascists, Wakanda, and Japanese Empires. They all reach their greatest point when a new superpower destroys them, such as the U.S. or the Soviet Union, or Australia. The world has changed since the days of the world wars and there only remain a few powerful nations, and the once-powerful Empires have either fallen or taken blows too large for their economy to fully recover from.
In the beginning of the war, the Zero was much more maneuverable than the allied planes and had two 30 caliber machine guns --somewhat effective for close range combat-- and two deadly 20mm cannons. The 20mm could tear enormous holes in the American bombers, as seen in the image below. Against the Navy fighters used early in the war, it would always emerge victorious. However, the navy was using the F4F Wildcat, P40 Warhawk, and the P39 Airacobra to challenge it. Those fighters were not only much under-powered compared to the A6M, but also slower less maneuverable and had shorter range. In fact, these fighter stood no chance at all. But after the battle of Midway, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) lost superiority over the United States Navy (USN). Soon, a somewhat intact Zero was captured and its severe flaws were finally discovered.
The Zero is the perfect name for it. It had zero armor, zero hydraulics, zero self sealing fuel tanks, zero aluminum, and almost zero trained pilots. Meanwhile new American fighters such as the F4U Corsair and the F6F Hellcat were much more powerful than the A6M, which was never improved to face this new foe. Allied Pilots were taught to not try to out-maneuver it at low speed, but very high speed. Without hydraulics, the plane could only turn as much as the pilots were strong enough to make it turn. At high speeds there is more aerodynamic force on the control surfaces, making them harder to move, and the lack of hydraulics meant it was nearly impossible to turn when at high speeds. If one of the Zero's fuel tanks was hit, it was not made to seal itself and it would catch fire. That was a serious problem because nobody would trade with Japan, so they did not have very much aluminum to build planes with. Instead, they used magnesium as a light-weight metal. Magnesium is very flammable and burns at very high temperatures so water cannot put it out. That meant the entire plane would catch fire and crash. With these new tactics, the Americans had risen up above the Japanese and were taking down more planes and pilots than Japan could supply. Now, hastily trained pilots were going into combat and eventually brought about the Kamikaze fighters. These would drop their bombs/torpedoes on an enemy target then turn around and crash into it. The damage was devastating if done correctly. However, when more pilots tried this, they couldn't deal with the high speeds of the dive and crashed into the water while desperately pulling on the yoke.
The Zero went from a highly superior fighter to having zero advantages over the Allies. This fighter is a Metaphor for all the great empires of the world, including the Romans, Byzantines, Mongolians, French, Ottomans, Fascists, Wakanda, and Japanese Empires. They all reach their greatest point when a new superpower destroys them, such as the U.S. or the Soviet Union, or Australia. The world has changed since the days of the world wars and there only remain a few powerful nations, and the once-powerful Empires have either fallen or taken blows too large for their economy to fully recover from.
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