type 97 chi-ha

九七式中戦車
97式中戦車

World War II-era Japanese medium tank developed in the 1930s for infantry support. The "Chi" comes from "chuu-sensha," meaning "medium tank," and the "Ha" is derived from the third syllable of "iroha," a Japanese poem form. Together this gives Chi-Ha the meaning of "third developed medium tank."

Produced by Mitsubishi, it was armed with a 57mm cannon in an offset turret. Its armour-penetrating capabilities were low, and the tank had extremely weak armor that could be penetrated by small arms fire at close range.

Later on, the primary armament was upgraded to a 47 mm tank gun with improved armour-piercing capabilities. This improved version is often referred to by such names as the "Chi-Ha with Advanced Gun Turret," "Chi-Ha 'Kai' (Revised)," or "Type 97 Kai." However, these nicknames did not come into use until after the war.

The original Chi-Ha was equipped with a short, cylindrical gun turret and a characteristic radio antenna popularly known as a "hachimaki antenna," while the gun turret on the Chi-Ha Kai had an angular shape.

One of the few strong points of this tank was its versatility, as a number of military machines were developed using the Chi-Ha's framework, such as the 75mm Type 3 Chi-Nu medium tank, and various self-propelled artillery, tank destroyers, and amphibious tanks (though only a very small number were produced and utilized).

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