Mitsubishi
A5M4 (Claude) Type 96
Wartime History
The first prototype of this
airplane, flown on February 4, 1935.
The first A5M1s were delivered to the IJN in early 1937, with the type going
into combat service over China, where it quickly obtained air superiority over
Chinese forces. It was followed by the"A5M2a", with an uprated Kotobuki 2-KAI-3A
engine, and then the "A5M2b" with a Kotobuki 3 radial, improved cowling design,
a three-bladed fixed prop, and a sliding canopy. The sliding canopy would prove
unsatisfactory and was deleted in late production. The A5M4 went into production
in 1938.
At the beginning months of the
war in the Pacific the A5M4 was in front line use, but it was
outpreformed by Allied aircraft. By the summer of 1942, all
A5Ms had been transferred to second-line duties, being replaced
by the superior A6M
Zero.
Production
Aproximatly 800 were
built by Mitsubishi and 200 more by other manufactures under
contract.
The last A5M4s were completed in early 1940. A little over a hundred
tandem seat trainer versions with the designation A5M4-K were
built into 1943, and used as advanced trainers, or used for
kamikaze attacks in the closing
months of the war. Almost 1,100 A5Ms of all versions were
built.
