Nakajima Ki-43 “Oscar”: The Imperial Japanese Army Air Force’s “Zero” Lookalike

Ask most casual Western aviation history buffs to name a Japanese fighter plane of the Second World War, and the chances are they’ll name the Mitsubishi A6M Zero. Indeed, “Zero” became practically a generic label for WWII Japanese fighter planes, just like “Messerschmitt” became a label for Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe warbirds.