Mitsubishi A5M CLAUDE

The A5M3a was only experimental, but had a 20mm HS 404 motor-cannon on the centerline. The Nakajima Ki 12 was much the same.
To my knowledge nothing with a heavy cannon in the spinner was mass produced in WW2 by Japan. These prototypes show how easily this could've been different.
The cannons on the Zero lacked long range by comparison. The A6M2 could've gone this route and saved on weight with only one 20mm cannon. Not only was the HS 404 longer range than the Type 99-I, it was faster. Marksmanship would be more efficient on the center-line too. Just like the P-38 with much the same cannon. However the US version was faulty.

Another weakness of the Zero that this would address was the poor dive acceleration. The inline engine would cause less drag. Even level speed would be higher.

The Brass didn't like depending on the French for the A5M3a Claude, so they accepted the Bristle radial. No 20mm! But it is fun to imagine a lighter Zero with good dive and a high velocity 20mm nose-cannon. Maybe it could afford to have an armored seatback. Even if the Navy rejected it, perhaps parallel to a radial engine Zero, an inline motor-cannon version would come in handy against US bombers. They tried 30mm Type 2 cannons in the wings at Guadalcanal. Too much recoil for the wings! Not so, if it were in the nose like a Bf 109 Gustav! The Luftwaffe made 17,000 of those. The Ki 61 had virtually the same inline engine but never a hub-cannon! When they tried the Army 30mm Ho-155, it was again, too much recoil for the wings so it was likewise dropped. Why not a motor-cannon, at least for bomber interception. The B-29s called for this but Japan was not interested. But it was there from the start.

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In the invasion of China by the Japanese prior to and during WWII the A5M did not have it all it's own way. The Chinese Nationalists had purchased 36 Gloster Gladiators and on more than one occassion they proved more than a match, and it wasn't until the arrival of the A6M that the Japanese achieved full air superiority.

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FIRST OFF, I'M AM NOT SHOUTING, ***** THANKS TO CANCER, MY EYES ARE NOT AS GOOD. THE INFO FORGOT TO MENTION THOS WAS THE PREDICESSOR OF THE FAMED A6M REISEN AKA THE ZERO. THIS WAS STARTED BY THE IMMORTAL ADMIRAL ISOROKU YAMMAMOTO; WHO INSISTED THAT THE JAPANESE HAVE AN ADVANCED CARRIER-BASED STRIKE PLANE.

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Mr"Ally",please stop shouting.

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Sgt.KAR98,
I-16. Speed and overall maneuverability.

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The A5M Claude was the predecessor of the famous A6M Zero. It was the world's first monplane shipboard fighter and was used in the Second Sino-Japanese War. Some were still in service at the start of World War II. United States intelligence sources believed the A5M was still the primary Navy fighter, but they had already been replaced by the A6M 'Zero' on first-line aircraft carriers and with the Tainan Air Group. Other Japanese carriers and air groups continued to use the A5M until production of the 'Zero' caught up with demand. The last combat actions with the A5M as a fighter took place at the Battle of the Coral Sea on 7 May 1942, when two A5Ms and four A6Ms of the Japanese carrier Shôhô fought against the US planes that sunk their carrier. Most remaining A5Ms were used for kamikaze during the end of the war.

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Relax Mr.Chinese 'Nationalist'. I believe a few other nations fought against the Japanese Imperial Forces and did a bit more. This is a website for aircraft not your overly sensitive shortcomings.

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