A6M2 Type 21 Zero Fighter

In the summer of 1937 Japan started action against China and threw into the front a great number of the newest planes which Japan had created with their original ideas and technique. Concerning fighters in particular, Japan had abandoned biplane type which was counted as the common sense of the then world and already employed the Type 96 Carrier Fighter (96 Kansen) that Japan had produced on the basis of many pieces of new technique and ideas such as all-metal, internally braced low wing monoplane design and the engine cowling designed to reduce air resistance. 96 Kansens always successfully engaed with I-15 and I-16 fighters and SB-2 bombers of Russian make as well as Gladiator fighters of British make. The 96 Kansen appeared as a fighter having a speed as high as 450 km/h and superior maneuverability at the time when conventional fighters of Japan and other nations of the world had a maximum speed of 350 km/h, winning admiration in Japan and abroad. This overthrew the deepfooted view that foreign planes were superior to those of Japan. After the appearance of the 96 Kansen, the modernization of Japan's aircraft industry was rapidly promoted and original planes came to be born.