Mitsubishi A5M4 "Claude"
|
Dimensions |
36'1" by 24'11"
by 10'9" 11m by 7.57m by 3.27m |
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|
Weight |
2,681-3,684 lbs 1216-1671 kg |
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| Wing area | 192
square feet 17.8 square meters |
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|
Maximum speed |
236 mph (380
km/h) at sea
level 248 mph (400 km/h) at 3280 feet (1000 meters) 270 mph (435 km/h) at 9845 feet (3000 meters) 265 mph (426 km/h) at 10,140 feet (3090 meters) |
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| Cruise speed | 250
mph at 9845 feet 402 km/h at 3000 meters |
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|
Climb rate |
46 feet per second 14 m/s |
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|
Ceiling |
32,150 feet 9800 meters |
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| Powerplant |
One 785hp (585 kW) Nakajima Kotobuki 41 or 41 KAI nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine driving a three-blade SS-22 two-pitch (ground adjustable) metal propeller | ||||||||||||||||||
|
Range |
500 miles (805
km) on
internal fuel 746 miles (1200 km) with drop tank |
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|
Armament |
2 7.7mm Type 89 machine guns (cowling) with 500 rounds per gun. | ||||||||||||||||||
|
External stores |
2 30kg (66 lb) bombs or 1 160 liter (42 gallon) drop tank. | ||||||||||||||||||
|
Fuel capacity |
75 gallons (284 liter) internal | ||||||||||||||||||
|
Production |
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| Variants: | The A5M1 used a 585hp 2-Kai-1 engine and the A5M2 a 610hp 2-Kai-3. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Claude was the first modern
Japanese carrier fighter,
though it retained such anachronisms as fixed landing gear. It remained
the standard Japanese
carrier fighter
up until shortly before the outbreak of war, and it remained in
use on
second-line carriers
and land bases until
sufficient Zeros
were available. Production
resumed in 1944 for kamikaze
use. The aircraft was
highly maneuverable, and saw considerable success against the Chinese. However, by
1941, its performance and firepower
were entirely inadequate.
Claude was designed at a time when it was widely accepted that carrier aircraft could not be the equals of land-based aircraft. Bergerud regards it as a distinctly second-rate fighter whose successes in China masked its defects. The success of the Claude led the Japanese into the trap of believing that the turning fight was still the correct air tactical doctrine. As a result, maneuverability remained a prime performance characteristic in the minds of Japanese aircraft designers at a time when designers in other nations were coming to the opposite conclusion.
One can only speculate what might have been had this remained the first line Japanese carrier fighter into 1942.
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia (c) 2007 by Kent G. Budge. Index