MITSUBISHI A6M2 "Zero"
Die ZERO
war das bekannteste aller japanischen Flugzeuge und das erste
Decklandejagdflugzeug, das sich seinen auf festem Boden landenden Gegnern
als überlegen erwies. Die
ursprüngliche Spezifikation 1937 herausgegeben, war so anspruchsvoll, dass nur die Firma Mitsubishi die Forderungen akzeptierte, die hohe
Geschwindigkeit und große Manövrierfähigkeit verlangten. Sie gingen an
die Arbeit, und der erste Prototyp flog im April 1939, und ihm folgte 1940
eine leistungsstärkere Version, die erste A6M2. Zeros aus der frühen
Produktion wurden 1940 in China eingesetzt, 18 Monate vor Pearl Harbour,
und zur gleichen Zeit fanden Versuche auf Flugzeugträgern statt, aus
denen sich das Modell 21 ergab, das Klappflügel hatte, um verstaut werden
zu können. Diese Version wurde in Pearl Harbour und im ganzen Pazifik in
den frühen Stadien des Krieges eingesetzt.
„Philippinen,
25.11.1944. Kimiyoshi machte es sich in seinem Cockpit bequem und zog das
Stirnband fest, das ihm vor dem Flug feierlich überreicht worden war. Das
Stirnband trug das Emblem der japanischen Marine, eine rote Sonne mit
roten Strahlen auf einem weißen Hintergrund. Dann bereitete er sich auf
den Start vom Flugzeugträger und seinen letzten Flug vor. Er führte
diese Kamikaze-Einheit und war sich über den Ausgang des Einsatzes im
Klaren. Unter der Flugzeugmitte befand sich eine 250kg schwere Bombe. Kurz
danach steuerten Kimiyoshi und 26 weitere Bomber und Kampfflieger auf eine
amerikanische Flugzeugträgerflotte zu. Sie verfielen in einen
mörderischen Sturzflug, durchbrachen mit kreischenden Motoren das
Flakfeuer der Amerikaner. Sekunden später wurden die amerikanischen
Flugzeugträger von den Explosionen erschüttert...“
Obwohl Mitsubishi ZEROs (oder Zekes wie sie auch genannt wurden) 331 der insgesamt 447 Kamikaze-Flüge gegen Ende des 2. Weltkrieges durchführten, wurden sie bis dahin auf eine eher herkömmliche Angriffsweise eingesetzt. In den Monaten kurz nach dem Angriff auf Pearl Harbour im Jahre 1941 flößte die Zeros ihren Gegnern beinahe übernatürliche Furcht ein. Sie hatten den Ruf, die schnellsten und wendigsten aller japanischen Kampfflugzeuge mit der größte Zerstörungskraft zu sein. Im Laufe des Krieges änderten die amerikanischen Piloten in ihren Lightnings, Corsairs und Hellcats aber ihre Taktik. „Shoot and retreat“ oder „Feuer und Rückzug“ hieß die Angriffsmethode, bei der die Maschinen aus großer Höhe mit schwerem Maschinengewehr- und Geschützfeuer auf die Zeros niederstießen, dann wieder steil aufstiegen und die feindlichen Flugzeuge hinter sich ließen. Als die japanischen Ressourcen erschöpft waren, erschienen die gefürchteten Kamikaze-Angriffe als letzter Ausweg. Die
gesamte ZERO-Produktion betrug 10611 Flugzeuge, von denen Mitsubishi 3879
und Nakajima 6215 baute.
Early in the Pacific War, the
Americans thought they were facing a "wonder weapon," the Japanese A6M2
Zero, the main fighter plane of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in 1941.
It flew rings around the American fighters of the time - Brewster
Buffalo's, Bell P-39's, and (to a lesser extent) Grumman F4F Wildcats. The
Zero pilots were superb; their machines were light, fast, and maneuverable.
Overcompensating for their previous, negative stereotypes of the Japanese
as imitative "little yellow bastards," the American fliers regarded the
Zero with too much respect, even awe.
In fact, the Zero
was a very good aircraft, but one with distinct weaknesses.
Development
Even before the First World
War, the Japanese military leaders recognized the need to develop an
industrial base, on which to build their weapons capability, aircraft in
particular. In World War One, they won some key victories, but largely
with European-built equipment. In the 1920's both the Army and Navy
created air arms, and in the 1930's, Japanese manufacturers, Mitsubishi,
Nakajima, and Kawasaki, began producing fighter airplanes locally, prodded
by an aircraft self-sufficiency program, headed by Admiral Yamamoto.
As a result, warplanes that
had been both designed and built by the Japanese flew over China in the
war there in the late Thirties. As the Japanese Army Air Force (JAAF)
program lagged, these were largely JNAF aircraft used in China, notably
the Nell bomber and the Claude fighter. (The use of female names for
Japanese bombers and female names for fighters was a convenience of Allied
intelligence services in WW2, and, of course were not used by the Japanese.
They denoted their aircraft by the year of introduction in the Japanese
calendar and purpose. Thus the Nell was a Type 96 land-based attack bomber,
the Claude a Type 96 carrier-based fighter, and the Val a Type 99
carrier-based dive bomber, etc.) The Nell was slow enough that even the
motley collection of older, foreign fighter used by the Chinese gave it
problems. But, the Claude was good enough to fly escort and could
establish local air supremacy. The Claude (Mitusbishi A5M) was designed to
operate from carriers, and had a low wing-loading (i.e. relatively large
wings) and a strong undercarriage for its tailhook. As the influential
JNAF fighter pilots, led by Minoru Genda, demanded a nimble and
maneuverable airplane, the rest of the aircraft was as lightly built as
possible. The tactical success of the Claude in China, against a foe with
weak airplanes and almost no anti-aircraft, led the Japanese to continue
the design philosophy of the Claude in its next naval fighter, the Zero.
The Zero
The Zero was the primary JNAF
fighter for the entire Second World War. (Code named Zeke, everyone called
it the Zero, as in Type 00 (Zero) carrier-based fighter.)
Built in response to a 1937
IJN spec that called for a carrier-based fighter, that was fast, armed
with cannon, as maneuverable as the Claude, had long range, and climbed
quickly. Since Japanese industry could only build engines up to 800 hp,
the airplane had to be as light as possible. Horikoshi and the Mitsubishi
design team came up with a plane that featured a large, one-piece wing
made of lightweight aluminum. Fuel efficient, it had a maximum range of
1100 miles, which could be extended with drop tanks.
It had clean
aerodynamic lines, which made for a plane that was not only beautiful, but
easy-to-fly.
The result, the Zero, was
outstanding. Armed with two 7.7 mm machine guns and two 20mm cannon, it
was considered "heavily armed" at its introduction in 1940. In late 1940,
the Zeros dominated the skies over China, with claims for 59 Chinese
aircraft destroyed against no losses.
This trend
continued into 1941, as the Zeros decimated the Chinese opposition,
shooting down 45, with only two lost to anti-aircraft fire.
In the early air
battles against the Americans and the British, starting at Pearl Harbor on
Dec. 7, 1941, the Zero shocked and terrified the Allies.
The surprising effectiveness
of the Zero was also a testament to the successful efforts by the Japanese
to mask their true aerial strength from the West.
Lessons of
Guadalcanal
But the Zero was not a
super-plane.
While it was very good, it had weaknesses that reflected
engineering trade-offs, Japanese military traditions, and the limitations
of Japanese industry.
The Zero's
lightness cut both ways; while light weight aided the plane's
maneuverability, it also meant that the Zero could not absorb a lot of
battle damage; nor could it dive as fast as its heavier American
opponents. Also,
the lightweight Zero was optimized for low altitude (below 15,000 feet)
combat; above that altitude, its controls were less responsive.
"Defensive" features, like armor-plating, parachutes, and self-sealing gas
tanks were considered not worth the extra weight. The traditional Japanese
orientation toward the attack disregarded the losses that might result
from the omission of these components. As experience showed, the Zero was
a flying incendiary.
A few good hits
in the gas tank, and the whole aircraft would explode in a ball of flame.
In the
all-important matter of weaponry, the Zero's limitations could also be
seen. In that
era, fighting airplanes carried light machine guns (7.7mm or .30 caliber),
heavy machine guns (12.7mm or .50 caliber), 20mm cannons, or some
combination of these. It's important to note the relatively huge
differences in the projectile size (and hitting power) of these different
guns. Roughly speaking a .50 caliber slug weigh three times as much as a
.30 caliber, and the 20mm was three times heavier than the .50 caliber.
But, the larger the gun, the less ammunition that could be fired and the
slower the rate of fire.
With two .30 caliber machine
guns and two cannon, the Zero's designers sought a compromise. But perhaps
the American designers made a better compromise in their selection of six
.50 caliber machine guns. Too often, the Zero's light machine guns could
not damage the rugged U.S. aircraft, and the slow-firing cannons couldn't
find the mark.
The great Japanese ace Saburo Sakai found this out over
Guadalcanal, as he related in Samurai!:
I closed in from the best
firing angle, approaching from the rear left of the Grumman [F4F Wildcat],
the pilot appeared to realize that he could no longer win. He fled at full
speed toward Lunga.
I had full confidence in my
ability to destroy the Grumman, and decided to finish off the enemy
fighter with only my 7.7mm machine guns. I turned the 20mm cannon switch
to the 'off' position, and closed in.
For some strange reason, even
after I had poured about five or six hundred rounds of ammunition into the
Grumman, the airplane did not fall, but kept on flying. I thought this
very odd - it had never happened before - and closed the distance between
the two airplanes until I could almost reach out and touch the Grumman.
To
my surprise, the Grumman's rudder and tail were ripped to shreds, looking
like an old torn piece of rag.
Sakai's tribute
to the ruggedness of the Wildcat reflects mutely on the comparative
flimsiness of the Zero.
Japan's industrial weakness
also manifested itself in the Zero's production. As it was technologically
advanced, it required a lot of handwork and sub-contracting to smaller
shops. In the three years 1939-42, Mitsubishi made 837 Zeros, in the next
12 months 1,689. And from April 1943 - March 1944, almost 3,500.
While
good, these numbers did not match U.S. volumes, nor the demands of the
battlefields. |
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