Mitsubishi A6M5-S - Night Hunter

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Mitsubishi A6M5-S (零夜戦)
The Mitsubishi A6M5-S is a Japanese fighter that was designed to destroy B-29 bombers. At least 7 of these fighters were built in 1945. This modification was unpopular and most of the A6M5-S fighters were converted back to A6M5 fighters.
History
In May 1944, the bombing of Japan began to intensify. The commander of the 302nd Naval Aviation Squadron was Captain Yasuna Kozono, who became famous for redesigning the Nakajima J1N1 aircraft into a night fighter. He decided that the J1N1-S/Sa fighters alone would not be enough to defend Tokyo, which was to be defended by the 302nd Squadron. He decided that the D4Y2 (future D4Y2-S), P1Y1 (future P1Y1-S, P1Y2-S) and C6N1 (future C6N1-S) aircraft had to be converted into fighters. At that time, the squadron’s primary fighter was the A6M5, which Captain Kozono also decided to convert into a night fighter. The plan was simple: equip the A6M5 aircraft with a slanted Type 99 model 4 single cannon, which was to be used against bombers, and for dogfighting against enemy fighters. In the prototype, the cannon was mounted behind the cockpit at an angle of 30 degrees upwards and 30 degrees to the left. This arrangement led to an accident in which a maintenance worker who was on the wing during tests died. In addition, setting the cannon 30 degrees to the left made it difficult to aim, so it was decided to change the cannon setting. It was decided to leave the cannon at an angle of 30 degrees up and 10 degrees to the left, which already gave better results. In the final low-series version, it was decided to move the cannon to the rear part of the cockpit, thanks to which the speed and maneuverability of the aircraft did not suffer. The new fighter was probably created in 1945 and immediately began to operate against American aircraft, but due to the lack of radar, the A6M5-S fighters had great problems finding enemy bombers. At least 7 of these fighters were built, some of which were converted back to A6M5 fighters. These planes served until the end of the war.

Mitsubishi A6M5-S pictures

Art about the A6M5-S prototype

Art about the A6M5-S

Construction description
The Mitsubishi A6M5-S aircraft is based on the Mitsubishi A6M5a fighter, but there are a few differences that I will describe here.

1. The aircraft has an additional Type 99 Model 4 20mm cannon behind the cockpit or in the cockpit, which is set at an angle of 30 degrees up and 10 degrees to the left
2. A small Type 3 sight is mounted on top of the windshield

Technical sketches

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 9,12 m
• Wingspan: 11 m
• Height: 3,51 m
• Wing area: 21,38 m2
• Empty weight: 1926 kg
• Gross weight: 2852 kg
• Maximum Take-off Weight: 3072 kg
• Powerplant: 1 × Nakajima NK1F Sakae 21, fourteen-cylinder, air-cooled, two-row radial engine with 831 kW (1,115 hp)
• Propellers: Three-bladed metal fixed speed propeller with a diameter of 3,050 mm

Performance

• Maximum speed: 555 km/h
• Cruise speed: 365 km/h
• Range: 1,580 km
• Maximum Range: 1,920 km
• Service ceiling: 11,675 m
• Rate of Climb: 14,3 m/s

Armament

1. Guns:

• 2 x Type 99 20mm Model 4 gun in wings (120 rounds per gun)
• 2 × 7.7mm fixed Type 97 machine gun in the nose (700 rounds per rifle)
• 1 x Type 99 20mm Model 4 cannon mounted on the rear of the cockpit or behind the cockpit (120 rounds (?))

2. Bombs:

• 2 x 60 kg bombs (under the wings)
• 1 x 250 kg bombs (under the fuselage)

3. Fuel dump tanks:

• 1 x 330 L dump tanks under hull

Summary
The A6M5-S fighter is a very interesting aircraft for Japan in War Thunder. With the Type 99 Model 4 cannon hidden, the player will be able to destroy enemy aircraft by surprise. From the outside, this aircraft looks like a regular A6M5, which gives the player an element of surprise that can tip victory to his side. I encourage you to discuss in the comments and to share your own knowledge on this subject.
Finally, I apologize for the linguistic and logical errors because unfortunately English is not my main language and I had to use google translator.

Internet sources

零式艦上戦闘機の派生型 - Wikipedia
Mitsubishi A6M Zero - Wikipedia
零式艦上戦闘機（各タイプ別解説） (jyai.net)
Imperial Japanese Aviation Resource Center - A Warbirds Resource Group Site
小園安名 - Wikipedia
第三〇二海軍航空隊 - Wikipedia
Zeke 52 with “Schräge Musik” | Secret Projects Forum
Mitsubishi A6M Reisen (Zero Fighter) (combinedfleet.com)
Уголок неба ¦ Mitsubishi A6M5(8) Reisen (airwar.ru)
Mitsibishi A6M5d Model 52D Reisen : Mitsubishi (armedconflicts.com)
ZeroNF (j-aircraft.com)

Book sources

Model-art-595-Night-fighters.pdf - Dysk Google

[Cpt_Naoshi_Kanno]

+1 how to improve a superior Turnfighter even more, put a 20mm in a 30° angle so you can shoot much earlier at the enemy plane :)

[Surbaissemaxxing]

+1 I have a feeling this will be very trolly once it gets added

[jon_man1199]

More A6Ms are always appreciated, have my +1!