P-40 Warhawk vs A6M Zero: Which WWII Fighter Was Better?

P-40 vs Zero at a glance

The two fighters were built for different jobs. The Zero was a light carrier fighter designed for range and agility, and the P-40 was a rugged, low-cost fighter that could take punishment. The full spec comparison sits above, including weights, dimensions and climb.

This page covers the P-40 Warhawk and the Mitsubishi A6M Zero in turn, then how they actually fought.

Where the P-40 Warhawk wins

Speed and diving

The P-40E reached 361 mph (581 km/h) at 15,000 feet, against 331 mph (533 km/h) for the A6M2 Zero. It also cruised about 100 mph (160 km/h) faster, at 308 mph (496 km/h) to the Zero’s 207 mph (333 km/h).

The bigger gap showed up in a dive. Wikipedia says the P-40 had a higher dive speed than any Japanese fighter of the early war years, and the Zero’s low never-exceed speed made it vulnerable in a dive.

High-speed handling mattered too. American test pilots found the Zero’s controls “very light” at 200 mph (320 km/h) but stiff above 216 mph (348 km/h), which is why the P-40 could out-roll it once it was fast.

Toughness and firepower

The P-40 had a strong structure with a five-spar wing, and RAAF ace Clive Caldwell said it “would take a tremendous amount of punishment.” The P-40E carried six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns in the wings.

Armor came in stages. The first Tomahawks arrived without armor or self-sealing tanks, and Wikipedia says the P-40D added armor around the engine and cockpit.

The P-40 had its own weak spot. Flying Tigers commander Claire Chennault considered the liquid-cooled Allison engine vulnerable, because one bullet through the coolant system could cripple it.

Where the A6M Zero wins

Turning at low speed

The Zero had a high-lift, low-speed wing with very low wing loading. That gave it a stall speed well below 60 knots (69 mph), and Wikipedia credits it with the ability to out-turn any Allied fighter of the time.

The P-40 article agrees: in the Pacific it was out-turned at lower speeds by the Zero and the Army’s Ki-43 Hayabusa. Chennault advised against prolonged dogfighting because slowing down favored the Japanese fighter.

Range and ceiling

The Zero’s listed range is 1,160 miles (1,870 km), against about 720 miles (1,150 km) for the P-40E. Wikipedia notes the Model 21 could range over 1,600 miles (2,600 km), so far from its carrier that Allied commanders thought there were several times as many Zeros as actually existed.

The Zero also had the higher service ceiling, 33,000 feet (10,100 m) to 29,000 feet (8,800 m). Range hurt the P-40 more than altitude did: pilot Robert DeHaven said the real problem was lack of range, and that as the Japanese were pushed back, P-40 pilots were slowly left out of the war.

The price of being light

The Zero’s maximum takeoff weight was 6,150 pounds (2,800 kg), roughly two-thirds of the P-40’s 9,200 pounds (4,150 kg). Wikipedia says no armor protected the pilot, engine or other critical points, and self-sealing fuel tanks were not used.

That made the Zero lighter and longer-ranged, but a short burst that ruptured a fuel tank was often enough to destroy one. It also lacked hydraulic boosting for its ailerons and rudder, so it was hard to maneuver at high speed.

How the P-40 and Zero actually fought

Pearl Harbor and the Philippines

The first meetings went badly for the P-40. At Pearl Harbor, most US Army fighters were P-40Bs and the majority were destroyed, though George Welch and Kenneth Taylor got airborne and shot down several Japanese aircraft.

In the Philippines, P-40 squadrons also took crippling losses on the ground and in the air.

Fight fast, not slow

Wikipedia credits the Zero with a 12 to 1 kill ratio in early combat, a claim rather than a verified count. Pilots learned the rule the hard way: do not slow down. DeHaven, who scored 10 kills in P-40s, said you could fight a Zero on even terms if you made it fight your way.

“He could outturn you at slow speed. You could outturn him at high speed,” he recalled, and above 275 mph (440 km/h) a P-40 could out-roll a Zero. The technique was a nose-down turn called a low yo-yo, which kept airspeed up.

Allied pilots also learned the Zero’s weaknesses from captured examples, and tactics such as the Thach Weave blunted its early dominance. By mid-1942, Wikipedia says, Allied pilots could meet the Zero on generally equal terms.

The Flying Tigers: a famous record, mostly against other fighters

The American Volunteer Group flew Tomahawk-type P-40s in China and Burma. Chennault banned his pilots from turning fights with agile Japanese fighters and told them to dive, fire and zoom away.

The AVG was officially credited with 297 enemy aircraft destroyed, including 229 in the air, and lost 14 pilots killed in action, captured or missing. Wikipedia says the tactic worked against the Zero and similar Army fighters, but the Flying Tigers article names Ki-27 “Nate” and Ki-43 “Oscar” fighters in its combats, not the Navy Zero.

Treat the headline tally as the AVG’s official credit, not a Zero-versus-P-40 scoreboard.

Production and legacy

Curtiss built 13,738 P-40s before production ended in November 1944, making it the third most-produced American fighter of the war, after the P-51 and the P-47. Based on victory claims, over 200 Allied pilots became aces in the P-40.

Zero totals depend on the source. The U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey counted 10,934 and Francillon counted 11,291, both including floatplane and trainer versions.

Wikipedia says Japan produced more Zeros than any other combat aircraft of the war.

For the wider picture, see our guides to American fighter planes of WWII and Japanese fighter planes of WWII. Production rankings are in the most produced aircraft of WWII.

The P-40 also fought a very different opponent in the Mustang. See P-40 Warhawk vs P-51 Mustang, or how the Zero fared against it in P-51 Mustang vs A6M Zero.

Which was the better fighter?

Neither, outright. The Zero was the better dogfighter at low speed and the better long-range fighter, and the P-40 was the faster, tougher, better-diving one.

Early in the war the Zero’s agility won most fights. Once Allied pilots learned to keep their speed up, the P-40 could hold its own, and by 1943 the Zero was facing newer fighters than the P-40.