Chi-Ha (China)

␗Chi-Ha

␗T-26

␗Chi-Ha

␗T-26

China

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.3	1.3	1.3

Class:

Medium tank

Research:2 900

Purchase:700

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This page is about the medium tank Chi-Ha (China). For other uses, see Chi-Ha (Family). For the original vehicle, see Chi-Ha.

Description

The ␗Type 97 Chi-Ha is a rank I Chinese medium tank with a battle rating of 1.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision".

General info

The Type 97 Chi-Ha is an upgraded version of the earlier Type 89 I-Go. The engine has been upgraded, from the Mitsubishi A6120VD air-cooled straight-six diesel with 120 hp to a Mitshubishi SA12200VD air-cooled V12 diesel with 170 hp. As such, the top speed has increased from 27 kph on the I-Go to 38 kph on the Chi-Ha. The armament stays the same, with the same shells and gun characteristics. The 5.7 cm Tank Gun Type 97 is robust but will get the job done. It still has four crewmen inside, no armour, and a 7.7 mm Type 97 in the hull. Overall, it's, in general, a better I-Go.

Survivability and armour

Armour: Light, but effective against weaker guns (i.e. early French), weaker shells (low-caliber HE), and in long-range engagements.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour

Armour	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	25 mm (12-32°) Front plate 17 mm (63-81°) Front glacis 15 mm (37-59°) Lower glacis	25 mm (40°) Top Left 25 mm (25-27°) Top Right 20 mm Bottom	20 mm (4-58°)	12 mm
Turret	25 mm (9-41°) Turret front 25 mm Gun mantlet	25 mm (10-11°)	25 mm (12°)	10 mm
Armour	Sides	Roof
Cupola	17 mm	6 mm

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	45	21	14.8	263	324	17.77	21.89
Realistic	40	19		150	170	10.14	11.49

Armaments

Main armament

The gun is the same as on the I-Go. Not much to write home about, but we're hardly complaining, especially with the HEAT shell.

57 mm Type 97
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
120			-15°/+20°	±180°	Vertical
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	14.47	20.03	24.41	26.9	28.61
Realistic	9.04	10.64	12.90	14.3	15.20
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
4.09	3.80	3.5	3.30

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 0° Angle of Attack
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
Type 92 APHE	APHE	21	20	17	14	12	10
Type 3 HEAT	HEAT	55	55	55	55	55	55

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
Type 90 APHE	APHE	349	2.6	1.2	15	103	-1°	43°	30°	25°
Type 3 HEAT	HEAT	380	1.8	N/A	0.1	303.36	+0°	28°	21°	17°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks for the Chi-Ha.

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
120	117 (+3)	113 (+7)	89 (+31)	69 (+51)	1 (+129)	No

Right side only: 69 (+51)

Machine guns

7.7 mm Type 97
Mount	Capacity (Belt capacity)	Rate of fire (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
Hull	3,000 (20)	498	±10°	±15°
Pintle	1,000 (20)	498	-10°/+70°	±60°

Usage in battles

The Chi-Ha is one of the most interesting Rank I Chinese tanks to play as it has little to no armour, a shot-put-like muzzle velocity and looks like a bus in some sense as to how long it is.

However, there is a way to play this tank despite all the negatives to this tank and to play it to the best of its abilities, one can play it as a support tank in every way (apart from long distance as the rounds drop like a brick after 500 m). Stay close to teammates and always play sneaky as the Chi-Ha can be easily one-shotted by everything like all Japanese tanks in this Rank.

But if facing a heavy tank or medium tank of early Rank II are very hard to versus from head-on and the fact that the 57 mm APHE rounds lack penetration to destroy it from the front. So the best option is to go up behind it or attack from the side to destroy them. Another problem that shows itself strongly in close quarter fights is that the Chi-Ha has a hand-cranked turret and turning the tank is painful at best.

So it is best to plan ahead before attacking, think where the enemy may be and find a place to hide the bulky tank from the enemy and wait for the enemy to come to the firing range. The Type 3 HEAT shell changes this. With 55 mm of penetration, the tank is capable of penetrating tanks that it previously couldn't - which is most tanks at rank I and II. In addition to this, the Type 3 HEAT has the potential to hull break lightly armoured targets like LVTs or the Sturmpanzer. Use the protection analysis feature to figure out which tanks you can and can't get through, and adapt your playstyle accordingly when those vehicles are encountered. Now, this is somewhat important "Don't look for the enemy, let the enemy look for the Chi-Ha." Of course, the Chi-Ha could still go look for the enemy, but always be on alert and make sure to have a friend for firing support.

Engine power is not that powerful, which then means that the acceleration will be slow to start up, but it will slowly get faster over time. But reversing is like all British tanks when they reverse, It's going to be slow. But this is compensated for the turning speed of this tank as it is better to turn and run in some cases then reverse.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism
IV	Transmission	Engine		Artillery Support

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Improved sloped armour compared to the reserve vehicles
• Quite fast (up to 44 km/h), allowing it to get to certain spots in time
• Lovely climbing ability combined with the amazing -15 degrees gun depression, it is great at mountain combat
• The vertical stabiliser is a big advantage in a sudden encounter, as most tanks it faces don't have stabilisers, and therefore need to wait longer to fire
• Due to its curved 57 mm shell trajectory, it can shoot from behind cover without showing the tank to some degree
• Type 3 HEAT is powerful, it can frontally penetrate common targets like M3 Lee, and hullbreak tanks like LVT(A)(1)
• Great turning ability in low gear

Cons:

• 57 mm armament may be underpowered in an uptier, especially in frontal engagements
• Although fast, it still gets outran by M3 and M5 Stuarts and the Sd.Kfz.234 series
• Thin armour gets penetrated by lots of guns. Beware of any tank with the PzGr.40 shells (Pz.II, FlakPz 38)
• Abysmal penetration on stock APHE, will struggle to penetrate most low tier tanks like M3A1 and T-70

History

Some Japanese tanks, after being captured by Soviet troops during the Soviet–Japanese War in Manchuria and Korea, were given to the Chinese Communists to help their efforts in the Chinese Civil War. After their war, the Chinese kept the Japanese tanks in their inventory until 1949.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Chi-Ha (China) from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

Best gun depression discusses the Chi-Ha (China) at 1:33 - War Thunder Official Channel

See also

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;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the tank;
• other literature.

China medium tanks
ZTZ59	Type 59 · ZTZ59A · ZTZ59D1
ZTZ69	Type 69 · Type 69-IIa
ZTZ88/96	ZTZ88A · ZTZ88B
	ZTZ96 · ZTZ96A · ZTZ96A (P)
ZTZ99	ZTZ99-II · ZTZ99-III
ZTZ99A	ZTZ99A · WZ1001(E) LCT
Export series	MBT-2000 · VT4A1
ROC	CM11
Other	Т-34-85 Gai · Object 122MT "MC"
Bangladesh	T-69 II G
Japan	␗Chi-Ha · ␗Chi-Ha Kai
Pakistan	Al-Khalid-I
USA	␗M4A4 · ␗M4A4 (1st PTG) · ␗M4A1 (75) W · ␗M48A1 · ␗M60A3 TTS
USSR	␗T-34 (1943) · ␗Т-34-85 (S-53) · T-34-85 No.215 · Т-62 №545