It was a licensed copy of the British Gloster Gambet fighter, built by the Nakajima Aircraft Company for the Imperial Japanese Navy.

After modifications were made and it was fitted with a Nakajima-built Bristol Jupiter engine, the Gambet was evaluated by the Japanese navy against competitors from Aichi and Mitsubishi.

It proved to be more manoeuvrable while still being a stable gun platform[1] and was selected in April 1929 for production as the Navy Type 3 Carrier Fighter, with the short designation A1N1.

A1Ns from Kaga scored the Imperial Japanese Navy's first air-to-air combat victory on 22 February 1932 when they shot down a Boeing P-12 (specifically a Model 218, Prototype of the P-12E/F4B-3 variant, after evaluation sold to the Chinese Air Force) flown by the American volunteer pilot Robert Short.

[4] A 15-aircraft formation composed of Mitsubishi B1Ms with A1N escorts attacked Qiaosi Airbase in Hangzhou on 26 February 1932, engaging Chinese fighters in a dogfight, shooting down at least one Junkers K 47.