A6M5 Ko

A6M5 Ko

A6M5 Ko

Japan

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
5.0	5.3	4.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Fighter

Naval aircraft

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This page is about the aircraft A6M5 Ko. For other uses, see A6M (Disambiguation)

Description

The A6M5 Ko in the garage

The A6M5 Ko Reisen is a Rank IV gift Japanese fighter with a battle rating of 5.0 (AB), 5.3 (RB), and 4.7 (SB). It was in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.29.

General info

Ingame Description

Mitsubishi Type 0 Model 52 ""Ko"" (A6M5 Model 52a, reporting names: Zeke/Hamp/Zero) single-engine carrier-based fighter

In the middle of 1942, the Allies in the Pacific Ocean Theatre took the offensive, while the Japanese were more and more often on the defensive. In 1943, new types of high-speed fighters entered service with the USAAF and the USNAF, and they outperformed the Zeros in many respects. Low survivability, the main disadvantage of the Japanese aircraft, was made clear in the fierce air duels between the planes. The fighter's flight characteristics also required some improvement, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries designers began to upgrade the A6M again in August 1943.

The Zero received a smaller-area wing (with a span of only 11 m) with rounded tips. The wing folding mechanism was removed. To increase the plane's allowable diving speed, its wing surface skin was reinforced.

Since more powerful engines were not yet available, the designers had to make the most of a Nakajima Sakae 21 engine. Every pair of cylinders was given an individual exhaust pipe instead of a common heavy exhaust manifold. This added exhaust gas thrust to the propeller thrust, which resulted in a higher aircraft speed. The fuselage skin had to be reinforced with steel sheets in the area of the pipes, since the hot exhaust gases quickly burned through thin duralumin.

The new version of the aircraft was designated Model 52 (A6M5 Model 52). The plane became slightly heavier, but its maximum speed at a height of 6,000 m reached 565 km/h. This was the speed limit for the Zero, since all further modifications made to the machine only increased its weight and, consequently, reduced its maximum speed.

The next stage in upgrading the Zero was the Model 52 ""Kou"" (A6M5a Model 52a). This improvement significantly reinforced the plane's armament by replacing the wing-mounted Type 99-2 Model 3 drum-fed cannons (with 100 rounds each) with Type 99-2 Model 4 belt-fed cannons (with 125 rounds). This added 25 rounds per cannon and slightly improved the plane's rate of fire. Now the fighter's armament consisted of two synchronous 7.7 mm Type 97 machine guns with 500 rounds each plus two wing-mounted 20 mm Type 99-2 Model 4 cannons with 125 rounds each.

The A6M5 Ko fighter could carry bombs: two 60 kg (132 lb) bombs suspended under the wing and one weighing 250 kg (551 kb) under the fuselage.

In addition, the A6M5 Ko's wing structure was reinforced yet again, which resulted in a maximum allowable diving speed of 740 km/h. However, this was still inferior to the diving speed of the American F4U fighter.

Mass production of the A6M5 Ko variant began in March 1944. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries manufactured 391 machines. An additional unknown quantity of this variant was built by Nakajima Aircraft.

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at ?,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
?	?	10900	??.?	??.?	??.?	??.?	???
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 6,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
?	540	10900	??.?	16.0	??.?	16.9	190

Details

Features
Combat flap	Take-off flap	Landing flap	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
X	X	X	X	X

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flap (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
0	300	???	~??	~?

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< ???	< ???	< ???	> ???

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
?,??? m	??? hp	?,??? hp

Survivability and armour

Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured. Describe the armour, if there is any, also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.

Usage in battles

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Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Separate	Not ontrollable	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage Repair	Radiator
II		Compressor	Airframe
III	Wings Repair	Engine
IV		Engine Injection	Cover

Pros and cons

Summarize and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in the bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - they have a substitution in the form of softer "inadequate", "effective".

Pros:

Cons:

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

See also

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• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on aircraft;
• other literature.