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The Zero Fighter Type 21, which had made a great advance in the early stages of the war, began to lose out in terms of speed and firepower by 1943 to the new fighters of the US Army and Navy that were appearing one after another.

So the Type 52 was developed following the Type 32 and Type 22,which shortened the wingspan from 12m of the Type 21 and Type 22 to 11m,redesigned the cowling, and equipped it with a thrust-type single exhaust pipe in an attempt to improve speed,and as a result the maximum speed was 565km/h, 25km/h faster than the Type 22.

In addition, the Type 52A was produced, which replaced the 20mm machine guns in the wings with belt-fed Type 99 Type 2 No. 4 20mm machine guns and thickened the wing skin to increase the dive speed limit, but the Navy’s demands continued, and the Type 52B was produced, which strengthened the right side of the 7.7mm machine gun in the nose with a 13mm machine gun, and the Type 52C was produced with 13mm machine guns added to the outside of the 20mm machine guns on both wings of the Type B model. Nakajima and Mitsubishi produced about 6,000 Type 52 series aircraft, which continued to fight until the end of the Pacific War. Data: Zero Fighter Type 52

Crew: 1
Width: 11.00m
Length: 9.121m
Height: 3.509m
Weight: 1,876kg
Total weight: 2,733kg
Engine: Nakajima Sakae Type 21
Takeoff power: 1,130 horsepower
Maximum speed: 565km/h (altitude 6,000m)
Armament: 2 x 20mm machine guns, 2 x 7.7mm machine guns