Mitsubishi A6M2b-21 "Zero"

Flown by Lt. Saburo Shindo IJN
第一つ空母師団、第一つ空母 制空権コマンド 大日本帝国海軍[赤城」
(Carrier Division 1, 1st Carrier, Air Superiority Command
Imperial Japanese Navy “Akagi”)

The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" was a long-range carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and operated by the 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-kanjō-sentōki), or the Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen. The A6M was usually referred to by its pilots as the Reisen (零戦, zero fighter), "0" being the last digit of the imperial year 2600 (1940) when it entered service with the Imperial Navy. The official Allied reporting name was "Zeke", although the name "Zero" (from Type 0) was used colloquially by the Allies as well.

Designed by Jiro Horikoshi, the Mitsubishi A6M fighter was to be the eventual replacement for the A5M, which had just entered service in early 1937, when the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) started looking for its eventual replacement.

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which this aircraft was part of the first wave, 521 Zeros were active in the Pacific, 328 in first-line units. The carrier-borne Model 21 was the type encountered by the Americans. Its tremendous range of over 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) allowed it to range farther from its carrier than expected, appearing over distant battlefronts, and giving Allied commanders the impression that there were several times as many Zeros as actually existed.

The Zero quickly gained a fearsome reputation. Thanks to a combination of unsurpassed manoeuvrability – compared to contemporary Axis fighters – and excellent firepower, it easily disposed of Allied aircraft sent against it in the Pacific in 1941.