"Chi-Ha" Type "97" Model 1937 Medium Tank
Produced in 1934 in quantity, this tank was extensively used in China. Comparison with the M 2589 models A and B shows that the return rollers have been reduced to four, the girder has been removed, and the skirting redesigned. The long front plate has a door on the left, above which is mounted the hull machine gun. The driver sits to the right. The Diesel engine has been increased to 160 brake horsepower. With the above exceptions the M 2594 is practically identical with the M2589 B. This tank was often seen with a ditching tail.
Shortly after the start of testing the “Ha-Go” tank, Mitsubishi presented another project, rooted in the early 1930s. At this time, the old concept "TK" became the basis for the new medium tank, which received the name "Type 97" or "Chi-Ha." It should be noted that "Chi-Ha" had little in common with "Te-Ke". The coincidence of the digital development index was due to some bureaucratic issues. Nevertheless, the matter was not without borrowing ideas. The new "Type 97" had the same layout as the previous cars: the engine in the stern, the transmission in the front, and the fighting compartment between them.
In the second half of the 1930s, Japan revised the requirements for medium tanks and began to develop more maneuverable samples. The medium tank type "89", which at that time formed the basis of the Japanese armored forces, was already outdated and required replacement. In 1936, tactical and technical requirements for a new medium tank were formulated. With smaller sizes, greater speed and better armor protection than the type “89” tank, it had to have the same weaponry - a 57-mm cannon and two machine guns. In accordance with these requirements, two prototypes of the future medium tank were developed by 1936 - the Chi-Ni (“middle fourth”), weighing 9.8 tons, developed by the arsenal in Osaka (“Osaka Rikugun Zohaysho”) and “Chi-Ha "(" middle third "), weighing 15 tons, the company "Mitsubishi Dzhokho cabusikigaysya."
Considering the current trends in the development of foreign tanks, the designers of Mitsubishi decided to equip the new Type 97 with more powerful weapons than the previous tanks. A 57-mm “Type 97” cannon was mounted on the swiveling turret. As on the "Ha-Go", the gun could swing on the trunnions not only in the vertical plane, but also in the horizontal, within a sector 20 ° wide. It is noteworthy that the fine aiming of the tool horizontally was carried out without any mechanical means - only by the physical strength of the gunner. Vertical guidance was carried out in the sector from -9 ° to + 21 °. The standard gun ammunition was 80 high-explosive and 40 armor-piercing shells. Armor-piercing ammunition weighing 2.58 kg per kilometer punched up to 12 millimeters of armor. At half the distance the penetration rate increased by one and a half times. Additional weapons "Chi-Ha" consisted of two machine guns "Type 97". One of them was located in the front of the case, and the other was intended to defend against an attack from behind. A new gun made tank builders go for another crew increase. Now it consisted of four people: driver, gunner, loader and the commander-gunner.
In 1936 - 1937, two prototypes of Chi-Ni and Chi-Ha tanks were tested, each tested. If originally the Japanese General Staff of the ground forces preferred the cheaper Chi-Ni, then after testing both prototypes, it became clear that it only slightly surpasses the light tank Ha-Go that was already in production. Analysis of the fighting in China pointed to the need to adopt a more maneuverable, better armored and more powerful armed tank, with the result that the Chi-Ha tank was adopted in 1937 under the designation Type 2597. Its mass production began in 1938 by Mitsubishi, with the participation of Siysakushi and Nihon Seikosho, as well as Hitachi and the Sagami arsenal. From 1938 to 1943, a total of 1,366 Chi-Ha tanks of the type “97” were produced.
Simultaneously with the Chi-Ha line tanks, a specialized model of the Chi-Ki commander tank, equipped with a more powerful radio station, navigation devices and additional signaling devices, an enlarged turret without a gun installation with a modified commander turret, was handrail antenna and another sunroof behind the turret. The 57-mm gun was dismantled, and as compensation, instead of a course machine gun, a 37-mm gun was mounted in the front hull sheet, although on some samples a 57-mm gun was mounted in the same way. In addition, later on the chassis of the medium tank type "97" was created a family of special machines and self-propelled guns, including: self-propelled anti-tank guns; self-propelled support tools; artillery tanks as assault SAU; self-propelled anti-aircraft installations; engineering and assault engineering vehicles; bridge tanks; BREM. The Japanese medium tanks of type “97” and the vehicles created on their base were distinguished by low weight, relatively light armor, satisfactory mobility, which in general corresponded to the tasks of the “maneuverable” tank.
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