The Mitsubishi A6M Zero-sen is the most famous Japanese fighter of the Second World War (1939-45). The single-seater aircraft was a leap forward for the Japanese air force and navy; indeed, this was the fastest and most manoeuvrable of all fighter planes in the early years of the war. Deployed very often from aircraft carriers, the Zero was used as both a fighter and dive-bomber in such key battles as the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway. Although outclassed in the final two years of the war by Allied fighters, production of the Zero continued, and it became the most produced of any aircraft by any air force in WWII.