Chi-He (5th Regiment)

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This page is about the premium Japanese medium tank Chi-He (5th Regiment). For the regular version, see Chi-He.
Chi-He (5th Regiment)
jp_type_1_chi_he_5th_regiment.png
GarageImage Chi-He (5th Regiment).jpg
ArtImage Chi-He (5th Regiment).png
Chi-He (5th Regiment)
AB RB SB
2.7 2.7 2.7
Purchase:850 Specs-Card-Eagle.png
Show in game
STORE

Description

The Type 1 Chi-He (5th Regiment) (一式中戦車(戦車第五連隊仕様)「チへ」) is a regular Chi-He in service by the 1st Tank Division, 2nd Armored Brigade, 5th Armored Regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army.

It was introduced in Update "Regia Marina". Being a carbon copy the Chi-He, it plays exactly the same, on top of that it comes with a unique camouflage and 3 distinct decals on all available camouflages for the tank.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back
Hull50 / 25 / 20
Turret50 / 25 / 25
Crew5 people
Visibility88 %

There is nothing impressive here in terms of armour, the Chi-He features 50 mm, poorly angled, frontal armour. This is not the kind of plate that can take any punishment at the battle rating, as it will only bounce poorly aimed shots. The five-man crew inside makes the tank very survivable, leaving some room for mistakes. Side armour is vulnerable to heavy machine gun and autocannon fire, so beware flanking fast tanks.

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour
  • Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet, Machine gun ports)
Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull 50 mm (15°) Front plate
12 mm (76°) Front glacis
50 mm (20°) Joint plate
8.5 mm (65°) Lower glacis
20 mm (15-30°) Top
25 mm Bottom
20 mm (0-20°) Top
8.5 mm (63°) Bottom
12 mm
Turret 25 + 25 mm (10°) Turret front
50 mm (0-10°) Gun mantlet
25 mm (10°) 25 mm Turret rear
50 mm (0-57°) Machine gun port
12 mm
Cupola 50 mm 50 mm 50 mm 12 mm

Notes:

  • Suspension wheels are both 15 mm thick, while tracks are 20 mm thick.
  • Front of turret has bolted on 25 mm armour to total up to 50 mm thick as the rest of the front.

Mobility

Speedforward / back
AB49 / 10 km/h
RB and SB44 / 9 km/h
Number of gears8 forward
2 back
Weight17.2 t
Engine power
AB458 hp
RB and SB240 hp
Power-to-weight ratio
AB26.6 hp/t
RB and SB14.0 hp/t
Game Mode Max Speed (km/h) Weight (tons) Engine power (horsepower) Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Forward Reverse Stock Upgraded Stock Upgraded
Arcade 49 10 17.2 372 458 21.63 26.63
Realistic 44 9 212 240 12.33 13.95

This is one of the main features of the Chi-He, it enables it to do anything a commander want with it. Want to be first on the spot? With some skill/luck, the Chi-He can! Want to flank? follow other light tanks in the move, provide them with enhanced firepower! The enemy team is coming over? Hit the gas (in a rearward position) and fire while retreating.

Modifications and economy

Repair cost
AB750 Sl icon.png
RB510 Sl icon.png
SB1 938 Sl icon.png
Crew training3 400 Sl icon.png
Experts23 000 Sl icon.png
Aces160 Ge icon.png
Research Aces380 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
Talisman.png 2 × 40 / 50 / 90 % Sl icon.png
Talisman.png 2 × 118 / 118 / 118 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Mobility Protection Firepower
Mods new tank traks.png
Tracks
Mods new tank suspension.png
Suspension
Mods new tank break.png
Brake System
Mods new tank filter.png
Filters
Mods new tank transmission.png
Transmission
Mods new tank engine.png
Engine
Mods tank tool kit.png
Improved Parts
Mods extinguisher.png
Improved FPE
Mods tank reinforcement jp.png
Crew Replenishment
Mods new tank horizontal aiming.png
Horizontal Drive
Mods tank cannon.png
Adjustment of Fire
Mods new tank vertical aiming.png
Elevation Mechanism
Mods art support.png
Artillery Support

Armaments

Main armament

Shoulder stabilizer
Reduces the swing of the gun in one plane while moving
Ammunition120 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
4.3 → 3.3 s
Vertical guidance-15° / 20°
Main article: Type 1 (47 mm)

Comparatively to other light/medium tanks at this battle rating, the 47 mm Type 1 gun is quite surprising with 77 mm of penetration at point-blank range and has a good reload speed. Plus, it fires APHE shells, which do great post-penetration damage. Comparatively, the 20-K (45 mm) gun on Soviet BR 1.0-2.7 tanks has only 62 mm of penetration in similar conditions. A top-mounted MG is really useful when dealing with unarmoured SPG and SPAA one might encounter at the BR.

One thing to keep in mind compared to Chi-Ha Kai is that it still retains the same hand-cranked turret with additional 25 mm plates to improve the frontal armour to a maximum of 50 mm. This however slows down the turret rotations speeds due the added weight.

47 mm Type 1 Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 120 -15°/+20° ±180° Vertical 13.33 18.45 22.40 24.77 26.35 4.29 3.80 3.50 3.30
Realistic 8.33 9.80 11.90 13.16 14.00

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
10 m 100 m 500 m 1,000 m 1,500 m 2,000 m
Type 1 APHE APHE 77 75 67 58 50 44
Type 1 HE HE 10 9 8 7 5 5
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Velocity
(m/s)
Projectile
mass (kg)
Fuse delay
(m)
Fuse sensitivity
(mm)
Explosive mass
(TNT equivalent) (g)
Ricochet
0% 50% 100%
Type 1 APHE APHE 808 1.49 1.2 9 22.4 47° 60° 65°
Type 1 HE HE 822 1.4 0.1 0.1 85.26 79° 80° 81°

Ammo racks

Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
5th
rack empty
6th
rack empty
7th
rack empty
8th
rack empty
9th
rack empty
10th
rack empty
11th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
120 91 (+29) 76 (+44) 73 (+47) 62 (+58) 51 (+69) 40 (+80) 29 (+91) 21 (+99) 15 (+105) (+111) (+119) No
Ammo racks of the Chi-He.

Notes:

  • Turret empty: 73 (+47) shells.

Machine guns

Ammunition3 000 rounds
Belt capacity20 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
3.9 → 3.0 s
Fire rate499 shots/min
Ammunition1 000 rounds
Belt capacity20 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
3.9 → 3.0 s
Fire rate499 shots/min
Main article: Type 97 (7.7 mm)
7.7 mm Type 97
Mount Capacity (Belt) Fire rate Vertical Horizontal
Hull 3,000 (20) 499 -16°/+10° ±19°
Pintle 1,000 (20) 499 -10°/+70° ±60°

Usage in battles

As the successor of the Chi-Ha, the Chi-He has a redesigned hull with thicker armour, a more powerful engine and an up-armoured turret from the Chi-Ha Kai, so the front has 50 mm of effective armour overall. This will result in a very similar playstyle as the Chi-Ha Kai with the added benefits of being an upgrade.

Unlike the Type 97 Chi-Ha Kai, the Type 1 Chi-He has some more armour and a stronger engine to rely on and it is able to brawl on its own with the fast fire rate. But as previously mentioned on Main armament, the Chi-He retains the same hand-cranked turret with additional armour, slowing down the already mediocre turning time by a slight amount.

Literally on top of armour and engine upgrades, the Chi-He gets an additional pintle point anti-aircraft machine gun, even though the Type 97 7.7 mm has a low clip capacity, it can prove useful for pinning enemy units and even getting hits to down enemy planes.

The best practice for the Chi-He (and other WWII-era Japanese tanks) is to always point forward, the front armour has pre-angled sides, so angling only hurts your pre-angles and weaker side armour. It's not worth trying to get more out of the 50 mm frontal effective protection.

Enemies worth noting:

  • B1 bis / ter: the B1 can easily destroy the Chi-He when using both of its guns, but when angling only the 47 mm gun is available, meaning that the Chi-He can take some hits. It is very hard to destroy the Char B1 from a distance, so get as close as possible with the ideal range being no more than 300 m. Aim at their flat hull side, turret side, hull cannon mount or the driving compartment (the near-vertical frontal armour right below the turret). Upon penetrating, the Chi-He's 47 mm APHE can knock out several crews, and your quick reload allows you to finish the rest off in time. However if the B1 has folded armour plates on their hull sides then it is a B1 ter, avoid shooting at its sides.
  • M4A3 (105): This low-rank Sherman poses a huge threat to every of its opponents due to its superior armour and destructive firepower. Its armour is overall quite tough to penetrate with your small 47 mm gun, but it can be solved by careful aiming. If the M4 is within 200 m, shoot at the vertical part of its gun mantlet or its side if exposed. One penetration might not kill all the crew, however two are generally enough. If it's up close and hull down, try shooting at its gun barrel to disarm it, but one shot is not guaranteed to destroy the barrel. When the M4 is further than 400 m away, all of your shells will perform poorly at penetrating its armour, so disengage or wait until it gets closer. Remember to not get hit by it, its HEAT is able to knock the Chi-He out with ease.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • 47 mm cannon can do some decent damage
  • Small profile
  • Gunner supported stabilization, can take accurate shots at low speeds
  • Top-mounted MG
  • Fast reverse speed (2 reverse gears)
  • Fast in forward motion
  • Frontal transmission
  • Awesome gun depression of -15°
  • Fast reloading rate

Cons:

  • Thin side armour means angling front armour could expose weak armour
  • 47 mm is not accurate in long distance fights
  • Packed 5-men crew can lead to an easy knock out if penetrated
  • 50 mm front armour, poorly angled
  • Big ammo racks in the turret (carry only half-ammo load)
  • Long and narrow hull: hard to turn on the spot

History

Development

The Imperial Japanese Army's main tank, the Type 97 Chi-Ha, was becoming rather outdated by the turn of the decade in 1940. The 30 mm front plate armour was vulnerable to standard anti-tank weaponry and the riveted design posed a hazard to the tank crew by spalling. In 1941, work began on modernizing the design up to new industrial standards.[1]

The first step in the modernizing design was to go towards a welded design rather than riveted. The front glacis plate was also simplified into a large flat 50 mm armour plate rather than the curved one. The increased armour meant an increased weight, so the Japanese added the improved Type 100 diesel engine, capable of pumping out 240 hp to propel the tank. This new tank was accepted as the Type 1 Chi-He.[1]

During the tank's preparation for mass-production, a request by the commander of the 7th Tank Regiment calling for an improved armament on the Type 97 Chi-Ha was received by the Mitsubishi factory. With the Type 1 Chi-He still needing time to enter production levels, let alone the resources needed to manufacture completely new tanks, it was placed on hold and priority was placed on improving the Type 97. This lead to the cheaper method of adapting the Type 97 to using the Type 1 turret with the 47 mm cannon, producing the Type 97 Chi-Ha Kai. This delayed the mass-production of the Type 1 Chi-He until February 1944, resulting in only 170 tanks produced before the end of the war.[2]

Combat usage

Despite its relatively early production life over late-war Japanese tanks and its improved characteristics, the Type 1 Chi-He would see its combat life held in reserves in the Japanese home islands. They would never see use in the battlefield before Japan surrendered in August 1945.

Media

Skins
Videos

See also

Related Development
Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

External links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Zaloga Steven. Japanese Tanks 1939-1945 Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2007
  2. Zaloga Steven. M4 Sherman vs Type 97 Chi-Ha: The Pacific 1945 Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2012


Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (三菱重工業株式会社)
Light Tanks 
Type 95  Ha-Go · Ha-Go Commander
Medium Tanks 
Type 89  I-Go Ko
Type 97  Chi-Ha · Chi-Ha Kai
Type 1  Chi-He · Chi-He (5th Regiment)
Type 3  Chi-Nu · Chi-Nu II
Type 4  Chi-To · Chi-To Late
Type 5  Chi-Ri II
SPGs 
Chi-Ha Derived  Ho-Ro
Chi-He Derived  Ho-I
Chi-Ri Derived  Ho-Ri Prototype · Ho-Ri Production
Other  Na-To · Ro-Go Exp.
Captured  ␗Chi-Ha · ␗Chi-Ha Kai
Note  Most tank designs would be contracted by the Army Technical Bureau to Mitsubishi
See also  Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (Post-War)

Japan medium tanks
Type 97  Chi-Ha · Chi-Ha Kai · Chi-Ha Kai TD · Chi-Ha Short Gun
Type 1  Chi-He · Chi-He (5th Regiment) · Ho-I
Type 3  Chi-Nu · Chi-Nu II
Type 4  Chi-To · Chi-To Late
Type 5  Chi-Ri II
Type 61 MBT  ST-A1* · ST-A2* · ST-A3* · Type 61
Type 74 MBT  ST-B2* · Type 74 (C) · Type 74 (E) · Type 74 (F) · Type 74 (G)
Type 90 MBT  Type 90 · Type 90 (B) · Type 90B "Fuji"
Type 10 MBT  TKX (P)* · TKX* · Type 10
Other  Ka-Chi
USA  ▅M4A3 (76) W · ▅M47
  *Prototype

Japan premium ground vehicles
Light tanks  Ha-Go Commander · Type 16 (FPS)
Medium tanks  Chi-Ha Short Gun · Chi-He (5th Regiment) · Ka-Chi · Chi-Nu II · Type 74 (G) · Type 90B "Fuji"
Heavy tanks  Ro-Go · ▅Heavy Tank No.6
Tank destroyers  Ho-Ri Prototype · Type 75 MLRS