F6F Hellcat

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The most advanced production U.S. carrier-capable fighter aircraft of [[World War II], replacing the F4F Wildcat, also made by Grumman. As opposed to the contemporaneous F4U Corsair, it was not flown by the U.S. Marine Corps, but still had some ground attack capability.

While pilot skill always was the dominant factor in air combat maneuvering, the F6F had sufficient technical superiority over the Japanese A6M "Zero" fighter that an average F6F pilot could defeat other than the best Zero pilots. By the time the F6F was introduced, Japan had lost most of its best pilots, so the disparity was even more marked.