Maquette à monter - F4F-3 Wildcat eduard 1/48e

The Grumman F4F Wildcat was an American carrier-based fighter aircraft in service with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, as well as the British Fleet Air Arm during World War II.

Although outclassed in pure performance by its main adversary, the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, the Wildcat's robustness, effective armor, and the use of adapted tactics allowed Allied forces to maintain the initiative during key 1942 campaigns (Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal, Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands). Many F4F pilots achieved high victory counts, with the record held by Marine Corps Major Joe Foss, who secured 28 victories in less than three months during the Guadalcanal campaign.

Replaced on the front lines by the Chance Vought F4U Corsair and the Grumman F6F Hellcat starting in 1943, the Wildcat continued to serve until the end of the war on escort carriers, where its small size was an advantage. To allow Grumman to focus on Hellcat production, its manufacturing (along with the Avenger torpedo bomber) was gradually transferred to General Motors' Eastern Aircraft division starting in late 1942. The two Wildcat versions produced by this company—the FM-1 and FM-2—accounted for nearly three-quarters (73%) of the total Wildcat production, with 5,280 FM-1 and FM-2 aircraft out of a total of 7,251 built across all variants.

The arrival of the F4F gave the Royal Navy a capable carrier-based fighter, available in large numbers, and much better suited to the harsh carrier conditions than the Sea Hurricane and Seafire, until the Hellcat and Corsair arrived later from the U.S. Under British markings, the aircraft was initially named the Martlet, but this designation was dropped in 1944.

The Wildcat was swiftly retired from service at the end of the conflict.

Source: OupsModel