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Type 5 Ho-Ru 47-mm self-propelled anti-tank gun

The creation af the light anti-tank gun Type 5 “Ho-ru” was a response to the American medium tanks M3 and M4, which successfully operated in the Pacific theater of operations. As the experience of military operations in the open confrontation of “Shermans” showed, only crews of medium-sized Chi-Ha tanks had a chance to win, and even in the most favorable circumstances. American cars outnumbered their opponents in all respects and only anti-tank 47-mm or 75-mm guns could penetrate 30-60 mm of armor, which were not always able to deliver to the battlefield.

So there was a need to have in service a specialized self-propelled gun, whose task would be to combat the armored vehicles of the Americans. One of the most successful options was the creation of self-propelled gun "Ho-ni", armed with a 75-mm anti-tank gun and built on the chassis of the same "Chi-ha." The chassis has switched to self-propelled without any significant changes: structurally, it consisted of four dual track rollers on board with a Hara-type suspension, two supporting rollers, a rear guide wheel of a front-wheel drive wheel with pinching gear. Only the track, in which the width of the single-flange truck was increased to 350 mm, was finalized.

The main means in countering the American tanks from the Japanese self-propelled guns was a 47-mm anti-tank gun installed in the squat open rear fighting caompartment. The armor-piercing projectile of this weapon had an initial speed of about 820 m / s and punched a vertically positioned 50-mm armor plate at a distance of up to 500 meters.

The self-propelled gun “Kho-ru” was tested in 1942-1943, but there is no detailed information on their conduct and results. The project did not receive further development due to the low power of the 47-mm cannon, unable to fight with new American and British tanks.

There is evidently some confusion as to the chronology of this poorly attested program, with some sources dating it to 1943, while others date it to 1945.