Messerschmidt's BF-109 was probably the best fighter the Luftwaffe had during World War II. It effectively covered the Army's operations in Blitzkrieg, but as the German front grew longer, the BF-109 felt increasingly difficult to escort bombers at longer distances.
In early 1939, the Luftwaffe began looking around for suitable single-engine fighters to work with bombers at greater distances. At this time, the Re.2000 of the Italian company Reggiane entered the german field of vision. Unfortunately, the RAF has ordered a large number of Legian fighter jets, and the Legian plant has no spare capacity to meet the needs of the Germans. At the same time, they are not particularly keen on granting production licenses to German manufacturers, as Germans are likely to become their future rivals.
Re.2000
As a result, the Germans looked further afield, their attention drawn to Japan's newly produced small fighter jets. The international community has paid little attention to mitsubishi's newly produced A6M, which first flew in 2600 in the era of the Japanese Empire, so it is called type 00, or "zero".
At the same time, after signing the 1936 Treaty of Anti-Comintern, Japan was keen to establish good relations with Germany. Japan wanted to get orders from Germany through positive feedback from German test pilots, so a small number of Japanese-made Zero fighters were sent to Germany. The first German version of the Zero was completed by Arado in record time. Surprisingly, the German Zero actually entered service with the Luftwaffe before entering the ranks of the Imperial Japanese Navy. By the time the German Zero was well produced, the polish and French battles were over, and given that the Luftwaffe had not encountered a strong enough opponent in the war so far, some began to see another Japanese fighter as an unnecessary luxury. However, the coming Battle of Britain will reverse this view in the most dramatic way possible.
Reverse the Zero of the Battle of Britain
In the early days of the Battle of Britain, the results of the Luftwaffe could be said to be mixed. The early airfields that were attacked were within range of the BF-109, so the losses of German bombers were not too large. However, both the unintended Stuka and BF-110 suffered appalling losses in the face of spitfires and hurricanes and were quickly withdrawn from the fighting. Out of Germanic pride, the Luftwaffe lacked the desire to put non-German aircraft into combat, so the Zero was initially rarely dispatched. But as the bombing turned to London, they would be the luftwaffe's saviors. The short-legged BF-109 aircraft could stay over London for only 10 minutes before they were forced to return to their bases in France due to lack of fuel.
There is no such problem with the zero form. It had three times the range of the BF-109 (and could carry an additional fuel tank), and it could not only escort bombers to and from France, but also protect bombers from the German Fifth Air Force stationed in Norway from bombing London. The Zero's combat durability was so good that When Spitfire pilots were sent to intercept them, they found themselves often having to interrupt the fight to refuel. This endurance would be meaningless if it were an inferior fighter, but the Zero is really outstanding. The Zero, which fought over Britain, possessed more powerful weapons than any fighter of the time (except the flawed Me-110). It was fitted with two machine guns and two 20 mm cannons. What's more, its maneuverability is legendary, making it easy to beat any European monoplane fighter.
While the BF-109 and Spitfire were faster than it, the Zero could withstand higher angles of attack, forcing enemy fighters to withdraw from the fight or stall. Its only real flaws were its fragile structure and lack of armor protection, but the small caliber of machine guns mounted on British fighters was not a big problem.
But the zero is not invincible. Despite being behind in terms of maneuverability and firepower, RAF fighters can succeed as long as they have the advantage of height. However, in the case of short warning times, the British aircraft that rushed to take off to intercept the incoming German formation rarely had a height advantage. While the Spitfire, with its speed advantage, can be freely out of combat, the Hurricane is slower, less maneuverable, and less equipped than the Zero. Moreover, German pilots were usually veterans of the Polish, French or Spanish battles, and with the rich combat experience combined with the excellent Japanese Zero fighters, the British army's losses were increasing until they could no longer maintain effective defenses. At this point, both The Heinkel 111 and Junkers 88 could bomb Britain at will, and the Battle of Britain actually won the german victory. Zero, an invader from the Land of the Rising Sun, led to the twilight of the British Empire.