World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe Navy Type 96 fighters were the Japanese Navy's first monoplane carrier fighter. They were first introduced on 4 Feb 1935 and began their service in early 1937 aboard carriers against China during the Sino-Japanese War, out-maneuvering any aircraft the Chinese could put up in the air. They also saw action in the Pacific War, though the involvement against Americans were limited due to the introduction of the Zero fighters. During the war, dual-seat configurations of this fighter were also manufactured, mainly for training purposes. Near the end of the war, most of the remaining fighters were equipped and used for special attack missions.

SPECIFICATIONS

A5M1

Machinery	Nakajima Kotobuki 2 KAI 1 nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine
Armament	2x7.7mm Type 89 machine guns
Span	11.00 m
Length	7.71 m
Height	3.20 m
Wing Area	17.80 m²
Weight, Empty	1,075 kg
Weight, Loaded	1,500 kg
Speed, Maximum	435 km/h

A5M4

Machinery	Nakajima Kotobuki 41 or 41 KAI nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine
Armament	2x7.7 mm Type 89 machine guns, 2x30kg bombs or 1x160l drop tank
Span	11.00 m
Length	7.57 m
Height	3.27 m
Wing Area	17.80 m²
Weight, Empty	1,216 kg
Weight, Loaded	1,671 kg
Speed, Maximum	435 km/h
Service Ceiling	9,800 m

Ki-18

Machinery	Nakajima Kotobuki 5 nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine
Armament	2x7.7 mm Type 89 machine guns
Span	11.00 m
Length	7.66 m
Height	3.15 m
Wing Area	17.80 m²
Weight, Empty	1,110 kg
Weight, Loaded	1,422 kg
Speed, Maximum	445 km/h

Photographs

Visitor Submitted Comments

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1.  Hobilar says:
22 Sep 2007 03:52:45 AM

The Ki-18 was a prototype model tested in 1935 following interest shown by the J.A.A.F in the proposed Navy fighter (Ka-14). It was found to be neither fast enough nor manouvrable enough for the Armys reqirements and was not further developed.

2.  Bill says:
20 Feb 2009 08:40:27 AM

Info on photo: that shows A5M in front of hanger. Mitsubishi A5M4 of the 13th. Rengo Kokutai during operations in China. Date Unk. Code name (Claude) The A5M's successor, the Mitsubishi A6M2. Many Claude's were used for advanced fighter training. The few remaining aircraft, were used in kamikaze attacks against Allied ships cruising off the coast of Japan.

3.  Bill/Anonymous says:
27 Dec 2009 05:15:32 PM

Only know A5M2 "Claude" now lies in cargo hold of Merchant ship sunk at bottom of Truk
Lagoon. Aircraft is barely recongnizable, after years under water it is only known
Claude in the World at this time.

5.  Bill says:
4 Jun 2010 06:18:37 PM

A Mitsubishi A5M (Claude) was captured by
Russian forces, the fighter was overhauled in the Spring of 1939, and test flown.

6.  Bill says:
8 Nov 2011 07:37:15 PM

FILE PHOTOGRAPH ABOVE:

A5M4 in front of hanger assigned to the
13th Kokutai during operations in China.

8.  Bill says:
26 Dec 2013 07:07:10 PM

Hello Sanjeet:

Sorry for the delay, I had no idea my comment had a reply.
Check on the internet there is a collection of the A5M4 photos taken by the Russians. The Claude was captured by the Chinese and turned over to the Russians for material support of the USSR.

The aircraft was test flown, evaluated and later
disassembled to study Japanese aircraft design I have no idea if the fighter still exists.

Type in Mitsubishi Navy Type 96 A5M4 "Claude" in Detail