This is currently the only BR2 fighter for Japan, and it is quite underpreforming for BR2. To justify the lowering of BR, I will compare the main stats of the Zero to the BF 109 E7/U2, a fighter at BR1 that is the most similar to this plane, as well as the Hurricane mk 2b since it’s the main US BR1 fighter.
[center]Guns[/cente
The guns of both aircraft are quite similar, two 20mm cannons with 60 rounds per gun, as well as two reserve rifle claiber MGs with a lot of ammo. This makes the damage done by the A6M2 very similar to the E7/U2, despite the lower BR.The Hurricane has 12 rifle caliber LMGs, which on their own don’t do much, but because of the number makes it a quite effective armament, a decent option in comparison to low ammo but harder hitting 20mms.
The E7/U2 has a bomb load of four 50kg bombs, while the A6M2 has only two 60kg bombs, which preform essentially the same as 50kg bombs, which makes the Zero quite bad in dealing with ground targets in comparison to the BF 109. In addition, the hurricane has dual 250 pound bombs, which are moderately more effective compared to the 60kg bombs.
The Zero has a max speed of 541 Kph, while the BF 109 is much faster at 612 Kph, 71 Kph faster. The Hurricane has a max speed of 532 Kph, moderately slower compared to the Zero.
The turn speed of the Zero is 12 seconds, which is very fast, compared to the 109’s 16.5 seconds, which is a nice aspect about the plane. The Hurricane has a competitive turn speed of 14.5 seconds, still slower then the Zero (but little can outturn it), but helps it very much in air combat.
In general, the Zero is, in general, is worse then the BF 109, due to combined aspects of speed, bomb load, and having to deploy using the lengthy carrier takeoff that makes hunting bomber formations impossible due to the time needed to take off and gain speed, and only really better in turn speed, which comparitive aircraft are the opposite. I think that it could be moved to BR1 to give japan a more strong BR1 option like the other countries, since the A5M4 dosn’t cut it in many situations. Of course the issue of having no dedicated BR2 fighter arises, but for the time being the Zero can still be used at BR2 until a new plane is introduced.
