Difference between revisions of "Ke-Ni"

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{{Specs-Card|code=jp_type_98_ke_ni}}
+
{{Specs-Card
 +
|code=jp_type_98_ke_ni
 +
|images={{Specs-Card-Image|GarageImage_{{PAGENAME}}.jpg|ArtImage_{{PAGENAME}}.png}}
 +
}}
  
 
== Description ==
 
== Description ==
−
''In the description, the first part needs to be about the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the ground vehicle in the game. Insert the screenshot of the vehicle. If the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, they will immediately understand what kind of vehicle it is talking about.''
+
<!-- ''In the description, the first part should be about the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the ground vehicle in the game. Insert a screenshot of the vehicle, so that if the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, he will immediately understand what kind of vehicle the article is talking about.'' -->
 +
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' ({{Annotation|九八式軽戦車「ケニ」|Kyūhachi-Shiki Kei-Sensha [Ke-Ni]}}) was a light tank prototype to replace and improve on the Ha-Go, built with a smaller silhouette and primarily focused as a light tank instead of a general purpose tank like the Ha-Go. It included some unconventional design choices for a Japanese tank: due to the small size of the tank and only having a driver in the hull, the machine gun was moved to the turret in a coaxial mount, and it had armour improvements and a Christie suspension. While a very promising tank, high command didn't feel the need to replace the adequately performing Type 95 Ha-Go's against the little Chinese armour they faced.
 +
 
 +
The Ke-Ni was introduced along with the initial Japanese Ground Forces tree in [[Update 1.65 "Way of the Samurai"]]. Being a small and zippy tank, it plays very similarly to the [[M22]]; while the cannon isn't completely up-to-par, it does offer APHE to deal some post-penetration damage. It's best used in flanks and hitting enemy tanks from the side.
  
 
== General info ==
 
== General info ==
 
=== Survivability and armour ===
 
=== Survivability and armour ===
−
''Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpfull for survival in combat?''
+
{{Specs-Tank-Armour}}
 +
<!-- ''Describe armour protection. Note the most well protected and key weak areas. Appreciate the layout of modules as well as the number and location of crew members. Is the level of armour protection sufficient, is the placement of modules helpful for survival in combat? If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.'' -->
 +
With around 12 mm of armour all around, this tank is barely bulletproof. German and British machine guns can even knock you down at point-blank range. Your crew is cramped and not numerous, which makes surviving a shot extremely unlikely. This is definitely not the tank to expose to any kind of shots. With its small turret and impressive gun depression, hull-down positions improve this vehicle's survivability and should be sought whenever possible.
 +
 
 +
'''Armour type:'''
 +
 
 +
* Rolled homogeneous armour
  
−
''If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.''
+
{| class="wikitable"
 +
|-
 +
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
 +
|-
 +
| Hull || 12 + 10 mm (20-27°) ''Front plate'' <br> 12 mm (71°) ''Front glacis'' <br>  12 mm (2-58°) ''Lower glacis''  || 12 mm (29-34°) ''Top'' <br> 12 mm ''Bottom'' || 10 mm (52°) ''Top'' <br> 10 mm (12-52°) ''Bottom'' || 10 mm
 +
|-
 +
| Turret || 12 mm (0-81°) ''Turret front'' <br> 16 mm ''Gun mantlet'' || 12 mm (25°) || 12 mm (25°) <br> 10 mm (24-25°) ''Rear door'' || 9 mm
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
'''Notes:'''
 +
 
 +
* Suspension wheels and tracks are both 15 mm thick.
  
 
=== Mobility ===
 
=== Mobility ===
−
''Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and maneuverability as well as the maximum speed forward and backward.''
+
{{Specs-Tank-Mobility}}
 +
<!-- ''Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and manoeuvrability, as well as the maximum speed forwards and backwards.'' -->
  
−
== Weaponry ==
+
{{tankMobility|abMinHp=141|rbMinHp=115}}
−
=== Main weaponry ===
 
−
''Give the reader information about the characteristics of the main gun. Assess its effectiveness in a battle based on the reloading speed, ballistics and the power of shells. Do not forget about the flexibilty of the fire, that is how quickly the cannon can be aimed at the target, open fire on it and aim at another enemy. Add a link to the main article on the gun: <code><nowiki>{{main|Name of the weapon}}</nowiki></code>. Describe in general terms the ammunition available for the main gun. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage.''
 
  
−
=== Additional weaponry ===
+
This tank is quite fast and can achieve surprising feats of mobility. Coupled with a good turret traverse speed, this tank can be reliably used in flanking manoeuvres. With its narrow tracks and good power-to-weight ratio, this tank is fast on almost any ground but easily loses speed on rough terrain, steep hills, and sharp turns. Another good characteristic of this tank is its reverse speed of -7 km/h, which allows it to effectively use overextend tactics (peek-a-boo).
−
''Some tanks are armed with several guns in one or more turrets. Evaluate the additional weaponry and give advice on its use. Describe the ammunition available for additional weaponry. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage. If there is no additional weaponry remove this subsection.''
+
 
 +
=== Modifications and economy ===
 +
{{Specs-Economy}}
 +
 
 +
== Armaments ==
 +
{{Specs-Tank-Armaments}}
 +
=== Main armament ===
 +
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|1}}
 +
<!-- ''Give the reader information about the characteristics of the main gun. Assess its effectiveness in a battle based on the reloading speed, ballistics and the power of shells. Do not forget about the flexibility of the fire, that is how quickly the cannon can be aimed at the target, open fire on it and aim at another enemy. Add a link to the main article on the gun: <code><nowiki>{{main|Name of the weapon}}</nowiki></code>. Describe in general terms the ammunition available for the main gun. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage.'' -->
 +
{{main|Type 100 (37 mm)}}
 +
 
 +
Offering an improved gun and ammunition selection compared to the [[Ha-Go]], this tank offers a good learning curve from its predecessor. Though this cannon does not have the best penetration at rank I, the trademark Japanese APHE has a good amount of HE filler and ensures that each penetrating shot deals damage. The gun only has one type of ammunition.
 +
 
 +
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="5" | [[Type 100 (37 mm)|37 mm Type 100]] || colspan="5" | Turret rotation speed (°/s) || colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
 +
|-
 +
! Mode !! Capacity !! Vertical !! Horizontal !! Stabilizer
 +
! Stock !! Upgraded !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
 +
! Stock !! Full !! Expert !! Aced
 +
|-
 +
! ''Arcade''
 +
| rowspan="2" | 110 || rowspan="2" | -15°/+18° || rowspan="2" | ±180° || rowspan="2" | Vertical || 16.18 || 22.40 || 27.20 || 30.08 || 32.00 || rowspan="2" | 4.33 || rowspan="2" | 3.83 || rowspan="2" | 3.53 || rowspan="2" | 3.33
 +
|-
 +
! ''Realistic''
 +
| 10.12 || 11.90 || 14.45 || 15.98 || 17.00
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
==== Ammunition ====
 +
{{:Type 100 (37 mm)/Ammunition|Type 1 APHE}}
 +
 
 +
==== [[Ammo racks]] ====
 +
[[File:Ammoracks_{{PAGENAME}}.png|right|thumb|x250px|[[Ammo racks]] of the {{PAGENAME}}]]
 +
<!-- '''Last updated: 1.101.0.44''' -->
 +
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
 +
|-
 +
! Full<br>ammo
 +
! 1st<br>rack empty
 +
! 2nd<br>rack empty
 +
! 3rd<br>rack empty
 +
! 4th<br>rack empty
 +
! 5th<br>rack empty
 +
! Visual<br>discrepancy
 +
|-
 +
| '''110''' || 105&nbsp;''(+5)'' || 99&nbsp;''(+11)'' || 81&nbsp;''(+29)'' || 41&nbsp;''(+69)'' || 1&nbsp;''(+109)'' || No
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
Only left side: 81&nbsp;''(+29)''
  
 
=== Machine guns ===
 
=== Machine guns ===
−
''Offensive and anti-aircraft machine guns not only allow you to fight some aircraft, but also are effective against lightly armoured vehicles. Evaluate machine guns and give recommendations on its use.''
+
{{Specs-Tank-Weapon|2}}
 +
<!-- ''Offensive and anti-aircraft machine guns not only allow you to fight some aircraft but also are effective against lightly armoured vehicles. Evaluate machine guns and give recommendations on its use.'' -->
 +
{{main|Type 97 (7.7 mm)}}
  
−
== Usage in the battles ==
+
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="50%"
−
''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''
+
|-
 +
! colspan="5" | [[Type 97 (7.7 mm)|7.7 mm Type 97]]
 +
|-
 +
! Mount !! Capacity (Belt) !! Fire rate !! Vertical !! Horizontal
 +
|-
 +
| Coaxial || 3,000 (20) || 499 || N/A || N/A
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
== Usage in battles ==
 +
<!-- ''Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).'' -->
 +
Being a light tank, the Ke-Ni cannot engage enemies head-on. To succeed in an assault, you need to be sneaky. Flanking, avoiding the enemy and going behind them is your best option. The 37 mm gun can penetrate most Rank I tanks if you hit their weak spots, though it may take a few shots to destroy an enemy. Your first shot should be to take out the enemy gunner so they can't retaliate. After that, take out their driver so they can't retreat. Never linger in an open field since anything can kill you with ease. Use your good gun depression to keep a hull-down position behind hills and just pop out to shoot. Hide in bushes or behind buildings or rocks. You are quite small, so use this to your advantage.
  
 
=== Pros and cons ===
 
=== Pros and cons ===
−
''Summarize and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in a bulleted list. Do not use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - they have a substitution in the form of softer "inadequate", "effective".''
+
<!-- ''Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in a bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".'' -->
  
 
'''Pros:'''
 
'''Pros:'''
−
*
+
 
 +
* Low profile
 +
* Slightly improved 37 mm cannon able to penetrate the majority of rank 1 tanks it faces
 +
* Coaxial machine gun (rare for a early Japanese tank)
 +
* Large ammo load
 +
* Short reload time
 +
* Small engine, which is hard to hit from the front
 +
* Good turret traverse
 +
* -15° of depression
 +
* Has shoulder lock, which is a primitive form of the vertical stabiliser
 +
* Good reverse speed (-7 km/h)
  
 
'''Cons:'''
 
'''Cons:'''
−
*
 
  
−
== Historical part ==
+
* Relatively little armour, can be penetrated by 12.7 mm machine guns
−
''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.''
+
* Hard to angle due to the shape of the armour
 +
* Only 3 crew members
 +
* Crew is cramped
 +
* Only one ammunition choice, can have difficulty dealing with heavily armoured tanks
 +
 
 +
== History ==
 +
<!-- ''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== In-game description ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).'' -->
 +
 
 +
=== Development ===
 +
The '''{{specs|name}}''' was a replacement program started in 1938, for the [[Ha-Go|Type 95 Ha-Go]]. The tank was supposed to have the same weight but with thicker armour. During development both Hino Motors and Mitsubishi Industries built a prototype being the Chi-Ni* Model A (Ko) and Chi-Ni* Model B (Otsu) respectively. As Hino built a suspension similar to on the [[Ha-Go]], Mitsubishi went for a similar design to the Christie suspension. During trails the Model A performed stunningly better, especially offroad and was adopted as the Type 98 Ke-Ni.
 +
 
 +
But as the battle results of the [[Ha-Go]] came in, the Army realized the poor strength and disorganization of the Chinese army was no issue for the adequate ageing Ha-Go and didn't need direct replacement.
 +
 
 +
Only with the start of the Pacific war high command started taking note of how the American's .50 cal is enough to punch through the rather thin armour of the Ha-Go and eventually gave the light tank improvement contract to Hino with effective production starting in 1942. Though as many Japanese tanks and army manufacturing, production would be hampered by the Navy's resource priority leaving the total amount of Ke-Ni's built rather low at roughly 104 built.
 +
 
 +
{{Notice|*Not to be confused with the Chi-Ni medium tank prototype.}}
 +
 
 +
=== Design ===
 +
Comparing the Ke-Ni to the [[Ha-Go]], it featured thicker, welded armour of improved shape, the height of the tank was 50 cm lower in profile and slightly lighter and shorter. With the use of a Mitsubishi Type 100 6-Cylinder air-cooled diesel engine with 130 horsepower, it allowed the vehicle to travel at 50 km/h (31 mph) even with its thicker armour.
 +
 
 +
Three pairs of bogies with six road-wheels connected to the chassis using bell cranks, this gave the tank better stability over its predecessor which only had two pairs of bogies with four road-wheels which was a major complaint of Ha-Go crew as it would rock the tank on unfavourable terrain.
 +
 
 +
The driver was located in a central position of the chassis and received a standard wheel.
 +
 
 +
In contrast to the one-man turret of [[Ha-Go|Type 95 Ha-Go]], the Type 98 had a two-man turret, which featured additional room for a loader next to the gunner/commander. The gun was a [[Type 100 (37 mm)|Type 100 37 mm tank gun]] with vertical elevations of -15 to +20 degrees in the turret, a muzzle velocity of 760 m/s, and also a coaxial [[Type 97 (7.7 mm)|Type 97 (7.7 mm) machine gun]] instead of in the back of the turret.
  
 
== Media ==
 
== Media ==
−
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''
+
<!-- ''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.'' -->
 +
 
 +
;Skins
 +
* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=jp_type_98_ke_ni Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]
  
−
== Read also ==
+
== See also ==
−
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example,''
+
<!--''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''
 
* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
 
* ''reference to the series of the vehicles;''
−
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''
+
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''-->
−
''ETC.''
+
 
 +
;Tanks of comparable role, configuration, and era
 +
* [[File:USA flag.png|30px|link=]] [[M22]]
 +
* [[File:Britain flag.png|30px|link=]] [[Tetrarch I]]
 +
* [[File:USSR flag.png|30px|link=]] [[BT-5]]
 +
* [[File:Sweden flag.png|30px|link=]] [[Strv m/38]]
 +
* [[File:Germany flag.png|30px|link=]] [[Pz.38(t) n.A.]]
  
−
== Sources ==
+
== External links ==
 
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''
 
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''
 +
 
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
 
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
−
* ''page on the Wikipedia;''
 
 
* ''other literature.''
 
* ''other literature.''
 +
 +
{{TankManufacturer Hino}}
 +
{{Japan light tanks}}

Latest revision as of 23:50, 25 June 2024

Rank VI USSR | Premium | Golden Eagles
Su-25K Pack
Ke-Ni
jp_type_98_ke_ni.png
GarageImage Ke-Ni.jpg
ArtImage Ke-Ni.png
Ke-Ni
Japan flag.png Japan
I Rank
Battle rating:
AB RB SB
1.0 1.0 1.0
Class:
Research:Free
Purchase:Free
Show in game

Description

The Type 98 Ke-Ni (九八式軽戦車「ケニ」) was a light tank prototype to replace and improve on the Ha-Go, built with a smaller silhouette and primarily focused as a light tank instead of a general purpose tank like the Ha-Go. It included some unconventional design choices for a Japanese tank: due to the small size of the tank and only having a driver in the hull, the machine gun was moved to the turret in a coaxial mount, and it had armour improvements and a Christie suspension. While a very promising tank, high command didn't feel the need to replace the adequately performing Type 95 Ha-Go's against the little Chinese armour they faced.

The Ke-Ni was introduced along with the initial Japanese Ground Forces tree in Update 1.65 "Way of the Samurai". Being a small and zippy tank, it plays very similarly to the M22; while the cannon isn't completely up-to-par, it does offer APHE to deal some post-penetration damage. It's best used in flanks and hitting enemy tanks from the side.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back
Hull26 / 12 / 12
Turret16 / 12 / 10
Crew3 people
Visibility75 %

With around 12 mm of armour all around, this tank is barely bulletproof. German and British machine guns can even knock you down at point-blank range. Your crew is cramped and not numerous, which makes surviving a shot extremely unlikely. This is definitely not the tank to expose to any kind of shots. With its small turret and impressive gun depression, hull-down positions improve this vehicle's survivability and should be sought whenever possible.

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour
Armour Front Sides Rear Roof
Hull 12 + 10 mm (20-27°) Front plate
12 mm (71°) Front glacis
12 mm (2-58°) Lower glacis 		12 mm (29-34°) Top
12 mm Bottom 		10 mm (52°) Top
10 mm (12-52°) Bottom 		10 mm
Turret 12 mm (0-81°) Turret front
16 mm Gun mantlet 		12 mm (25°) 12 mm (25°)
10 mm (24-25°) Rear door 		9 mm

Notes:

  • Suspension wheels and tracks are both 15 mm thick.

Mobility

Speedforward / back
AB56 / 8 km/h
RB and SB50 / 8 km/h
Number of gears6 forward
1 back
Weight7.0 t
Engine power
AB248 hp
RB and SB130 hp
Power-to-weight ratio
AB35.4 hp/t
RB and SB18.6 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 56 8 7 141 248 20.14 35.43
Realistic 50 8 115 130 16.43 18.57

This tank is quite fast and can achieve surprising feats of mobility. Coupled with a good turret traverse speed, this tank can be reliably used in flanking manoeuvres. With its narrow tracks and good power-to-weight ratio, this tank is fast on almost any ground but easily loses speed on rough terrain, steep hills, and sharp turns. Another good characteristic of this tank is its reverse speed of -7 km/h, which allows it to effectively use overextend tactics (peek-a-boo).

Modifications and economy

Repair cost
ABfree
RBfree
SBfree
Total cost of modifications3 620 Rp icon.png
167 Sl icon.png
Talisman cost190 Ge icon.png
Crew trainingfree
Experts1 000 Sl icon.png
Aces10 Ge icon.png
Research Aces80 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
10 / 10 / 10 % Sl icon.png
100 / 100 / 100 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Mobility Protection Firepower
Mods new tank traks.png
Tracks
Research:
440 Rp icon.png
Cost:
19 Sl icon.png
45 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank suspension.png
Suspension
Mods new tank break.png
Brake System
Research:
380 Rp icon.png
Cost:
17 Sl icon.png
35 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank filter.png
Filters
Mods new tank transmission.png
Transmission
Mods new tank engine.png
Engine
Research:
720 Rp icon.png
Cost:
35 Sl icon.png
70 Ge icon.png
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
Research:
440 Rp icon.png
Cost:
19 Sl icon.png
45 Ge icon.png
Mods tank cannon.png
Adjustment of Fire
Research:
380 Rp icon.png
Cost:
17 Sl icon.png
35 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank vertical aiming.png
Elevation Mechanism
Research:
540 Rp icon.png
Cost:
25 Sl icon.png
55 Ge icon.png
Mods art support.png
Artillery Support
Research:
720 Rp icon.png
Cost:
35 Sl icon.png
70 Ge icon.png

Armaments

Main armament

37 mm Type 100 cannon
Shoulder stabilizer
Reduces the swing of the gun in one plane while moving
Ammunition110 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
4.3 → 3.3 s
Vertical guidance-15° / 18°
Main article: Type 100 (37 mm)

Offering an improved gun and ammunition selection compared to the Ha-Go, this tank offers a good learning curve from its predecessor. Though this cannon does not have the best penetration at rank I, the trademark Japanese APHE has a good amount of HE filler and ensures that each penetrating shot deals damage. The gun only has one type of ammunition.

37 mm Type 100 Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 110 -15°/+18° ±180° Vertical 16.18 22.40 27.20 30.08 32.00 4.33 3.83 3.53 3.33
Realistic 10.12 11.90 14.45 15.98 17.00

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 47 44 32 22 15 10
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 700 0.72 1.2 9 12.8 47° 60° 65°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Ke-Ni
Full
ammo 		1st
rack empty 		2nd
rack empty 		3rd
rack empty 		4th
rack empty 		5th
rack empty 		Visual
discrepancy
110 105 (+5) 99 (+11) 81 (+29) 41 (+69) 1 (+109) No

Only left side: 81 (+29)

Machine guns

7.7 mm Type 97 machine gun (coaxial)
Ammunition3 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
Coaxial 3,000 (20) 499 N/A N/A

Usage in battles

Being a light tank, the Ke-Ni cannot engage enemies head-on. To succeed in an assault, you need to be sneaky. Flanking, avoiding the enemy and going behind them is your best option. The 37 mm gun can penetrate most Rank I tanks if you hit their weak spots, though it may take a few shots to destroy an enemy. Your first shot should be to take out the enemy gunner so they can't retaliate. After that, take out their driver so they can't retreat. Never linger in an open field since anything can kill you with ease. Use your good gun depression to keep a hull-down position behind hills and just pop out to shoot. Hide in bushes or behind buildings or rocks. You are quite small, so use this to your advantage.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Low profile
  • Slightly improved 37 mm cannon able to penetrate the majority of rank 1 tanks it faces
  • Coaxial machine gun (rare for a early Japanese tank)
  • Large ammo load
  • Short reload time
  • Small engine, which is hard to hit from the front
  • Good turret traverse
  • -15° of depression
  • Has shoulder lock, which is a primitive form of the vertical stabiliser
  • Good reverse speed (-7 km/h)

Cons:

  • Relatively little armour, can be penetrated by 12.7 mm machine guns
  • Hard to angle due to the shape of the armour
  • Only 3 crew members
  • Crew is cramped
  • Only one ammunition choice, can have difficulty dealing with heavily armoured tanks

History

Development

The Type 98 Ke-Ni was a replacement program started in 1938, for the Type 95 Ha-Go. The tank was supposed to have the same weight but with thicker armour. During development both Hino Motors and Mitsubishi Industries built a prototype being the Chi-Ni* Model A (Ko) and Chi-Ni* Model B (Otsu) respectively. As Hino built a suspension similar to on the Ha-Go, Mitsubishi went for a similar design to the Christie suspension. During trails the Model A performed stunningly better, especially offroad and was adopted as the Type 98 Ke-Ni.

But as the battle results of the Ha-Go came in, the Army realized the poor strength and disorganization of the Chinese army was no issue for the adequate ageing Ha-Go and didn't need direct replacement.

Only with the start of the Pacific war high command started taking note of how the American's .50 cal is enough to punch through the rather thin armour of the Ha-Go and eventually gave the light tank improvement contract to Hino with effective production starting in 1942. Though as many Japanese tanks and army manufacturing, production would be hampered by the Navy's resource priority leaving the total amount of Ke-Ni's built rather low at roughly 104 built.

Msg-info.png *Not to be confused with the Chi-Ni medium tank prototype.

Design

Comparing the Ke-Ni to the Ha-Go, it featured thicker, welded armour of improved shape, the height of the tank was 50 cm lower in profile and slightly lighter and shorter. With the use of a Mitsubishi Type 100 6-Cylinder air-cooled diesel engine with 130 horsepower, it allowed the vehicle to travel at 50 km/h (31 mph) even with its thicker armour.

Three pairs of bogies with six road-wheels connected to the chassis using bell cranks, this gave the tank better stability over its predecessor which only had two pairs of bogies with four road-wheels which was a major complaint of Ha-Go crew as it would rock the tank on unfavourable terrain.

The driver was located in a central position of the chassis and received a standard wheel.

In contrast to the one-man turret of Type 95 Ha-Go, the Type 98 had a two-man turret, which featured additional room for a loader next to the gunner/commander. The gun was a Type 100 37 mm tank gun with vertical elevations of -15 to +20 degrees in the turret, a muzzle velocity of 760 m/s, and also a coaxial Type 97 (7.7 mm) machine gun instead of in the back of the turret.

Media

Skins

See also

Tanks of comparable role, configuration, and era

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

  • topic on the official game forum;
  • other literature.


Hino Motors, Ltd. (日野自動車株式会社)
Light Tank  Ke-Ni
SPAA  Ta-Se · So-Ki

Japan light tanks
Type 89  I-Go Ko
Type 95  Ha-Go · Ha-Go Commander
Type 98  Ke-Ni
Other  Ka-Mi
IFV  Type 89
RCV  Type 87 RCV (P) · Type 87 RCV · RCV (P)
MCV  Type 16 (P) · Type 16 (FPS) · Type 16
USA  ▅M24 · ▅M41A1

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