The Japanese masterpiece revived The Mitsubishi A6M Zero was the Japanese Navys main fighter throughout the course of WWII. In the latter half of the war, the Model 22 was refined to create the Model 52 to counter new U.S. aircraft such as the P-38 Lightning and F4U Corsair. It featured 50cm shorter wings with rounded wingtips, individual exhaust pipes and top speed of 565km/h. A6M5a was produced with a larger capacity (125 rounds) belt-type cannon ammunition system in February 1944. The Model 52 first saw action during the closing stages of the Solomons campaign in the autumn of 1943 and went on to fight in the skies above the Marianas, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, as well as Japan itself, until the end of the war.