It was manufactured from 1939 until 1942 (though the last ones, as it was already obsolete, were completed in the trainer variant) and almost 600 exemplars were made. Most of them were built at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, in Nagoya, Japan, but production was undertaken also by the 21st Naval Aviation Workshop (161 exemplars), in Omura and Watanabe Iron Works (just 39 exemplars), in Fukuoka, all of them located in Japan.
It was powered by the Nakajima Kotobuki 41 (AKA 41 KAI) nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine which delivered a power of 700hp for take-off and 774hp at 9840ft high (3000m). It was equipped with an interal fuel tanks with 330L (72.6 UK gallons) of fuel and could carry an additional 160L (35.2 UK gallons) in an external fuel tank.
It was armed with two 7,7mm (0.303in) Type 89 machine guns placed in the upper fuselage decking with 500 rounds each and Type 89s were replaced by the 7,7mm Type 97 machine guns in later models. It could carry two small bombs of 30kg each (66lb) and had an endurance of 4 hours.
The A5M4-K was a two-seater trainer variant that was produced by the 21st Naval Aviation Workshop, in Omura, from 1942 until 1944. One-hundred and three exemplars were manufactured and it wasn't armed.
Japan wasn't the only user of the A5M as some fighters were captured by the Chinese Nationalist during either the Second Sino-Japanese War, World War 2 or the closing stages of the Chinese Civil War. Most of them were repainted in Chinese colours and were used as advanced trainers as it was obvious that the type was already obsolete for the World War 2.
The Soviets also captured some of them during the Battle of Khalkin-Gol (AKA Nomohan Incident) in the spring of 1939 and they were evaluated by the Soviet Air Force.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_A5M
2. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/8547
3. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/28834
4. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
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