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Type 3 Chi-Nu

1944 WORLD WAR 2

Type 3 Chi-Nu Story

Realizing that their armoured units were far from adequate in handling Allied armour in the Pacific campaign, the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) developed a new program to develop an increasingly capable design to match A growing number of 30-ton American M4 Shermans are coming to offset these figures. As the direct "M4 Sherman counter" - the 30-ton Type 4 "Chi-To" - was inevitably delayed, the conversion of the existing 15-ton Type 97 "Chi-Ha" started as a temporary measure.

The original Type 97 arose from a request in the mid-1930s and entered production in 1938. 1,162 examples were completed by 1943. The design eventually became lightly armed (57mm Type 97 gun) and lightly armored (8mm to 26mm). It was very vulnerable to various Allied anti-tank operations.

Taking these constraints into account, work on an improved design began in 1943, when casualties in Japanese-controlled areas began to increase.

The ubiquitous American M4 Sherman managed armour protection (up to 76mm) and primary weapons (75mm or 76mm) were greatly dwarfed. The selection of the Type 97 is a logistically friendly move that will allow the IJA to deploy a supplemental armor system until the Type 4 becomes effective. The improved Type 97, known as the Type 3 "Chi-Nu", thus retained the original chassis and hull, although the choice of the 75mm Type 3 (an improved form of the Type 90 field gun) introduced an entirely new tower.

The final product looks a bit more modern than previous IJA attempts, but still has design cues from yesteryear - not least the elevated side profile that elevates the vehicle.

The exterior styling of the Type 3 is traditional in every way. The undercarriage consists of a thin track link system running around a six-wheel, two-wheel road system, with the drive sprocket at the front of the fuselage and the track idler at the rear. There are two track deflection rollers. The fuselage was simple in design, with a sloping upper cover leading to a shorter fuselage superstructure, with the engines mounted aft. The central part of the hull is assigned to the fighting compartment, which houses the turret operation, associated systems and ammunition storage.

The driver controls his position from the front right of the vehicle through a slotted hinge opening, with limited visibility. A bow gunner is on his left.

The turret sits on top of the fuselage superstructure and is designed to be an ungainly-looking beast with a basic high profile and six-sided angled panels. The large main barrel protrudes from the front turret plate, and the recoil mechanism is located at the bottom of the barrel.

The barrel is further covered by a short muzzle brake. A commander's cupola can be seen on the right side of the top of the turret. The tower's height is between -10 and +25 degrees, and it can rotate 360 ??degrees to attack targets. The main gun was quite good, as the Japanese tank's design allowed for good penetration of 90mm armor at 100 meters with a muzzle velocity of 2,200 feet per second - the gun became the largest caliber installed on a Japanese Army tank during the war. Self-defense armament is provided by a bow-mounted 7.7mm Type 97 machine gun, nothing more.

The armor protection thickness of the various fairings ranges from 12mm to 50mm, with thicker armor traditionally distributed in the frontal area. The car is driven by five people: driver, commander, archer, gunner and loader.

The Model 3 is powered by a Mitsubishi 100-series V-12 diesel engine producing 240 horsepower at 2,000 rpm. The choice of diesel fuel limited the tank's burn when directly hit by enemy fire.

Combined with the crank suspension inherited from the Type 97, the 18-ton vehicle has a top speed of 39 km/h and a range of up to 210 km - capable of keeping up with the main mechanized forces.

Despite the logistical friendliness of the project, both wartime resources and attention were tied to other more important programs at the time, so the Type 3 was stalled for some time. Mass production was not approved until 1944, and by then, the strategic advantage the Japanese military had gained years earlier had all but been lostits air and naval power was slowly disappearing from Britain, the United States, and the United States. The Allies followed suit. As such, the Type 3 joined many other postwar Japanese developments in defending the homeland from a suspected but imminent Allied invasion. About 166 Type 3 tanks were produced, and production continued until the surrender of Japan in August 1945.

However, due to its limited supply, the Type 3 would never be allowed to directly engage enemy armor for the remaining months of the war. Japan's official surrender took place in early September and officially ended World War II (the war in Europe ended in May 1945).

Despite its novelty attempts, the IJA Type 3 Chino would never go head-to-head with its intended American M4 Sherman foe, and its history was interrupted by surrender.