Difference between revisions of "Chi-Ha"

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== 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 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.''-->
 +
[[File:GarageImage_Type97Chi-Ha.jpg|420px|thumb|left]]
 +
{{break}}
 +
The '''Type 97 Chi-Ha''' is a Rank I Japanese medium tank with a battle rating of 1.3. It was introduced in [[Update_1.65_"Way_of_the_Samurai"|Update 1.65 "Way of the Samurai"]] along with the initial Japanese vehicles of the Japanese Ground Forces Tree.
  
 
== 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?''
+
<!--''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?''
  
−
''If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.''
+
''If necessary use a visual template to indicate the most secure and weak zones of the armour.''-->
 +
'''Armour type:'''
 +
* Rolled homogeneous armour
 +
{| class="wikitable"
 +
|-
 +
! Armour !! Front !! Sides !! Rear !! Roof
 +
|-
 +
| Hull || 25 mm (12-32°) ''Front plate'' <br> 17 mm (63-81°) ''Front glacis'' <br> 15 mm (37-59°) ''Lower glacis'' || 25 mm (40°) ''Top Left'' <br> 25 mm (25-27°) ''Top Right'' <br> 20 mm ''Bottom'' || 20 mm (4-58°) || 12 mm
 +
|-
 +
| Turret || 25 mm (9-41°) ''Turret front'' <br> 25 mm ''Gun mantlet'' || 25 mm (10-11°) || 25 mm (12°) || 10 mm
 +
|-
 +
! Armour !! Sides !! Roof
 +
|-
 +
| Cupola || 17 mm || 6 mm
 +
|}
  
 
=== 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.''
+
<!--''Write about the mobility of the ground vehicle. Estimate the specific power and maneuverability as well as the maximum speed forward and backward.''-->
 +
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="3" | Mobility characteristic
 +
|-
 +
! Weight (tons)
 +
!colspan="1" | Add-on Armor<br>weight (tons)
 +
!colspan="1" | Max speed (km/h)
 +
|-
 +
|rowspan="2" | 14.8 || colspan="1" rowspan="2" | N/A || colspan="1" | 44 (AB)
 +
|-
 +
|40 (RB/SB)
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="3" | Engine power (horsepower)
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="1" | Mode
 +
!Stock
 +
!Upgraded
 +
|-
 +
|''Arcade''
 +
|263
 +
|324
 +
|-
 +
|''Realistic/Simulator''
 +
|150
 +
|170
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="3" | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
 +
|-
 +
!colspan="1" | Mode
 +
!Stock
 +
!Upgraded
 +
|-
 +
|''Arcade''
 +
|17.77
 +
|21.89
 +
|-
 +
|''Realistic/Simulator''
 +
|10.13
 +
|11.49
 +
|-
 +
|}
  
 
== Armaments ==
 
== Armaments ==
 
=== Main armament ===
 
=== Main armament ===
−
''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.''
+
<!--''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.''-->
 +
{{main|Type 97 (57 mm)}}
  
−
=== Additional armament ===
+
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
−
''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.''
+
|-
 +
! colspan="6" | [[Type 97 (57 mm)|57 mm Type 97]]
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity
 +
! rowspan="1" | Vertical <br> guidance
 +
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal <br> guidance
 +
! rowspan="1" | Stabilizer
 +
|-
 +
| colspan="3" | 120 || -15°/+20° || ±180° || Vertical
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="6" | Turret rotation speed (°/s)
 +
|-
 +
! style="width:4em" |Mode
 +
! style="width:4em" |Stock
 +
! style="width:4em" |Upgraded
 +
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
 +
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
 +
! style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
 +
|-
 +
| ''Arcade'' || 9.00 || 12.50 || 15.20 || __.__ || __.__
 +
|-
 +
| ''Realistic'' || 9.00 || 10.60 || 12.90 || __.__ || __.__
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="4" | Reloading rate (seconds)
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Stock
 +
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Full crew
 +
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Expert qualif.
 +
! colspan="1" style="width:4em" |Prior + Ace qualif.
 +
|-
 +
| 4.30 || 3.80 || __.__ || __.__
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
===== Ammunition =====
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
 +
! colspan="8" | Penetration statistics
 +
|-
 +
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
 +
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of <br /> warhead
 +
! colspan="6" | '''Penetration''' '''''in mm''''' '''@ 90°'''
 +
|-
 +
! 10m
 +
! 100m
 +
! 500m
 +
! 1000m
 +
! 1500m
 +
! 2000m
 +
|-
 +
| Type 90 APHE || APHE || 32 || 30 || 23 || 15 || 7 || 5
 +
|-
 +
| Type 3 HEAT || HEAT || 55 || 55 || 55 || 55 || 55 || 55
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" width="100%"
 +
! colspan="11" | Shell details
 +
|-
 +
! rowspan="2" data-sort-type="text" | Ammunition
 +
! rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | Type of <br /> warhead
 +
! rowspan="2" |Velocity <br /> in m/s
 +
! rowspan="2" |Projectile<br />Mass in kg
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse delay''
 +
''in m:''
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Fuse sensitivity''
 +
''in mm:''
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Explosive Mass in g<br /> (TNT equivalent):''
 +
! rowspan="2" | ''Normalization At 30° <br> from horizontal:''
 +
! colspan="3" | ''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]] =====
 +
[[File:Ammoracks_Type97Chi-Ha.png|right|thumbnail|x250px|[[Ammo racks|Ammo racks]] for the Chi-Ha.]]
 +
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
 +
|-
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Full<br /> ammo
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |1st<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |2nd<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |3rd<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |4th<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |5th<br />  rack empty
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" width="10%" |Recommendations
 +
! class="wikitable unsortable" |Visual<br /> discrepancy
 +
|-
 +
|| '''120''' || 117&nbsp;''(+3)'' || 113&nbsp;''(+7)'' || 89&nbsp;''(+31)'' || 69&nbsp;''(+51)'' || 1&nbsp;''(+129)''  || style="text-align:left" | No
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
Right side only: 69&nbsp;''(+51)''
  
 
=== 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.''
+
<!--''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 tank (7.7 mm)}}
 +
 
 +
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="7" | [[Type 97 tank (7.7 mm)|7.7 mm Type 97]]
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="7" | ''Hull mount''
 +
|-
 +
! colspan="4" rowspan="1" style="width:5em" |Capacity (Belt capacity)
 +
! rowspan="1" | Fire rate <br> (shots/minute)
 +
! rowspan="1" | Vertical <br> guidance
 +
! rowspan="1" | Horizontal <br> guidance
 +
|-
 +
| colspan="4" | 3,000 (20) || 499 || ±10° || ±15°
 +
|-
 +
|}
  
 
== Usage in the battles ==
 
== Usage in the 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 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).''
+
<!--''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).''-->
 +
The Chi-Ha is the most interesting tank to play in Rank I Japanese tanks 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. But there is a way to play this tank despite all the negatives to this tank, and to play it to the best to you can is to play supportive in every way (apart from long distance as the rounds drop like a brick after 500m). Stay close to teammates and always play sneaky as you can be easily one shotted by everything like all Japanese tanks in this Rank.
 +
 
 +
But if you find yourself facing a heavy tank or medium tank of early Rank 2 are very hard to verse from head on and the fact that your rounds lack penetration to destroy it from the front. So your 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 your best idea is to plan ahead before you attack, think where you believe the enemy may be and find a place to hide your bulky tank from the enemy and wait for the enemy to come to you. Now this is somewhat important "'''You''' don't look for the enemy, the '''enemy''' comes to you", you can go look for the enemy but always be on alert and make sure you have a friend to support you.
 +
 
 +
Engine power is not that powerful, which then means that your acceleration will be slow to start up but you slowly get faster the faster you get. 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.
  
 
=== 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".''
+
<!--''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".''-->
−
 
 
 
'''Pros:'''
 
'''Pros:'''
−
*
+
* Improved sloped armour compared to the reserve vehicles
−
 
+
* Quite fast (up to 44 km/h)
 +
* lovely climbing ability
 +
* due to its slow velocity it can shoot behind cover without showing your tank to some degree
 
'''Cons:'''
 
'''Cons:'''
−
*
+
* 57 mm armament may be underpowered in frontal engagements
 +
* Thin armour that can be penetrated by even 20 mm SPAA
 +
* Abysmal penetration. Will struggle to penetrate a lot of Rank 1 tanks.
  
 
== History ==
 
== History ==
−
''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.''
+
<!--''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.''-->
 +
===Development===
 +
The Imperial Japanese Army's main tank was the [[Type 89 I-Go Ko|Type 89]], adopted in 1929, but it was deemed obsolete as of 1935 and the IJA wanted something up to par with their battle style. The Type 89's main fault was its low overall road speed, which was unable to keep up with motorized infantry. Thus, the development of a new medium tank commenced with the goal of improved overall speed, low weight, and low cost.<ref name="ZalogaJapaneseTank">Zaloga Steven. ''Japanese Tanks 1939-1945'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2007</ref>
 +
 
 +
Two tank designs were developed with these specifications, both were produced by Mitsubishi. The first was the '''Chi-Ha''' which was powered by a 170hp diesel engine. The second was ''Chi-Ni'', which was lighter, cheaper, and powered by a 135 hp diesel engine. The IJA chose at the time of 1937, when war with China broke out to the Second Sino-Japanese War. This war increased the IJA's budget and thus they decided to pick the better of the two design. This led to the finalization of the '''Type 97 Chi-Ha''' tank. Production started in 1938 all the way to 1942 for a total of 1162 tanks produced.<ref name="ZalogaJapaneseTank"/><ref name="ZalogaChiHavsSherman">Zaloga Steven. ''M4 Sherman vs Type 97 Chi-Ha: The Pacific 1945'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2012</ref>
 +
 
 +
===Design===
 +
The Type 97 Chi-Ha was a medium tank constructed with rivets in the armour plates. It had a crew of four with a two-men turret. The turret held the same low-velocity 57 mm gun from the [[Type 89 I-Go Ko|Type 89]]. Armour was relatively thin, but quite standard at the time of 1930s, but this would become very vulnerable past 1941 when the Japanese war expands to the world.<ref name="ZalogaJapaneseTank"/>
 +
 
 +
The Type 97 Chi-Ha, like the standard tanks of other countries, was used in a multitude of roles by adapting its chassis to another purpose such as the [[Type 3 Ho-Ni I|Ho]][[Type 3 Ho-Ni III|-Ni]] assault gun series. The Type 97 Chi-Ha design was also improved upon multiple times with better armour and better guns, resulting in tanks like the [[Type 97 Chi-Ha Kai|''Shinhoto'' Chi-Ha]], [[Type 1 Chi-He]], [[Type 2 Ho-I]], and the [[Type 3 Chi-Nu]].<ref name="ZalogaJapaneseTank"/>
 +
 
 +
===Combat usage===
 +
The Type 97 Chi-Ha would first see its main usage in the border conflict against the Soviet forces in the Battles of Khalkin-Gol. In the Japanese 1st Tank Group's total 85 tanks, there were four Type 97 mediums present in comparison to the 34 Type 89 I-Go, 35 [[Type 95 Ha-Go]] lights, and 13 tankettes.<ref name="ZalogaChiHavsSherman">Zaloga Steven. ''M4 Sherman vs Type 97 Chi-Ha: The Pacific 1945'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2012</ref> Though the armoured units played a critical role in Japan's offensive against the Soviet Union, they were soon demolished by the Soviet armoured brigades, leading to their recall. The Japanese defeat at Khalkin-Gol did teach them a few lessons, first in that they were currently under-equipped for a fight against a large European force, which led to an enlargement of the Japanese armoured forces. Second was that the Japanese tanks were unsuitable for tank-to-tank fighting as the Soviet's main tank armament, the 45 mm cannon, was way more suitable than anything the Japanese had. This led to the development of a new anti-tank gun and tank gun for the Japanese Army, the Type 1 47 mm, though this would not see service until 1941.<ref name="ZalogaJapaneseTank"/>
 +
 
 +
The next major usage of the Type 97 would be in Japan's conflict during World War II against the Allies. The Type 97 made up a good portion of the Japanese armoured forces when they invaded the Malay peninsula of British territory in Operation Centrifuge<ref name="ZalogaChiHavsSherman">Zaloga Steven. ''M4 Sherman vs Type 97 Chi-Ha: The Pacific 1945'' Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2012</ref>. The Japanese tank's successes against Britain is attributed to the British belief that the terrain around Singapore made it very hard to use armoured forces, thus there was a lack of Allied armour available in the battle. In a span of three months, Japan managed to completely overcome the defenses of the Malay peninsula and the Allied forces there surrendered. The Burma campaign soon followed, but the fighting there would last most of the war's time.<ref name="ZalogaJapaneseTank"/>
 +
 
 +
Japan then invaded the Americans in the Philippines. It was here that the Japanese armoured forces baptized the American tankers in their first tank-to-tank combat with [[Light Tank M3 Stuart|M3 Stuarts]] against [[Type 95 Ha-Go]]. It was during this campaign that Colonel Seinosuke Sonoda of the 7th Tank Regiment advocated for the placement of the new Type 1 47 mm gun as the main armament of the Type 97 Chi-Ha. This would lead to the development and production of the next generation Type 97s, the [[Type 97 Chi-Ha Kai|Type 97-''Kai'' (Improved) ''Shinhoto'' (New turret) Chi-Ha]], which would eventually encompass the regular Type 97's production. Though now surpassed by the Type 97 Chi-Ha Kai, the regular Type 97 would still see usage alongside its improved variant in the Pacific campaign against the Allies.
  
 
== Media ==
 
== Media ==
 
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''
 
''An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.''
 +
 +
==References==
 +
<references />
  
 
== Read also ==
 
== Read 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.''
+
''ETC.''-->
 +
[https://warthunder.com/en/news/4330-development-type-97-chi-ha-hope-of-the-army-en/ [Devblog<nowiki>]</nowiki> Type 97 Chi-Ha: Hope of the Army]<br/>
  
 
== Sources ==
 
== Sources ==
Line 51: Line 249:
 
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
 
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
 
* ''other literature.''
 
* ''other literature.''
 +
 +
{{Japan medium tanks}}

Revision as of 22:59, 3 November 2018

RANK 5 FRANCE
Somua SM PACK
Chi-Ha
jp_type_97_chi_ha.png
Chi-Ha
Japan flag.png Japan
I Rank
Battle rating:
AB RB SB
1.3 1.3 1.3
Class:
Research:2 900 Specs-Card-Exp.png
Purchase:700 Specs-Card-Lion.png
Show in game

Description

GarageImage Chi-Ha.jpg


The Type 97 Chi-Ha is a Rank I Japanese medium tank with a battle rating of 1.3. It was introduced in Update 1.65 "Way of the Samurai" along with the initial Japanese vehicles of the Japanese Ground Forces Tree.

General info

Survivability and armour

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

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons) Add-on Armor
weight (tons) 		Max speed (km/h)
14.8 N/A 44 (AB)
40 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode Stock Upgraded
Arcade 263 324
Realistic/Simulator 150 170
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode Stock Upgraded
Arcade 17.77 21.89
Realistic/Simulator 10.13 11.49

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: Type 97 (57 mm)
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 9.00 12.50 15.20 __.__ __.__
Realistic 9.00 10.60 12.90 __.__ __.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
4.30 3.80 __.__ __.__
Ammunition
Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead 		Penetration in mm @ 90°
10m 100m 500m 1000m 1500m 2000m
Type 90 APHE APHE 32 30 23 15 7 5
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 		Recommendations Visual
discrepancy
120 117 (+3) 113 (+7) 89 (+31) 69 (+51) 1 (+129) No

Right side only: 69 (+51)

Machine guns

Main article: Type 97 tank (7.7 mm)
7.7 mm Type 97
Hull mount
Capacity (Belt capacity) Fire rate
(shots/minute) 		Vertical
guidance 		Horizontal
guidance
3,000 (20) 499 ±10° ±15°

Usage in the battles

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

But if you find yourself facing a heavy tank or medium tank of early Rank 2 are very hard to verse from head on and the fact that your rounds lack penetration to destroy it from the front. So your 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 your best idea is to plan ahead before you attack, think where you believe the enemy may be and find a place to hide your bulky tank from the enemy and wait for the enemy to come to you. Now this is somewhat important "You don't look for the enemy, the enemy comes to you", you can go look for the enemy but always be on alert and make sure you have a friend to support you.

Engine power is not that powerful, which then means that your acceleration will be slow to start up but you slowly get faster the faster you get. 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.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Improved sloped armour compared to the reserve vehicles
  • Quite fast (up to 44 km/h)
  • lovely climbing ability
  • due to its slow velocity it can shoot behind cover without showing your tank to some degree

Cons:

  • 57 mm armament may be underpowered in frontal engagements
  • Thin armour that can be penetrated by even 20 mm SPAA
  • Abysmal penetration. Will struggle to penetrate a lot of Rank 1 tanks.

History

Development

The Imperial Japanese Army's main tank was the Type 89, adopted in 1929, but it was deemed obsolete as of 1935 and the IJA wanted something up to par with their battle style. The Type 89's main fault was its low overall road speed, which was unable to keep up with motorized infantry. Thus, the development of a new medium tank commenced with the goal of improved overall speed, low weight, and low cost.[1]

Two tank designs were developed with these specifications, both were produced by Mitsubishi. The first was the Chi-Ha which was powered by a 170hp diesel engine. The second was Chi-Ni, which was lighter, cheaper, and powered by a 135 hp diesel engine. The IJA chose at the time of 1937, when war with China broke out to the Second Sino-Japanese War. This war increased the IJA's budget and thus they decided to pick the better of the two design. This led to the finalization of the Type 97 Chi-Ha tank. Production started in 1938 all the way to 1942 for a total of 1162 tanks produced.[1][2]

Design

The Type 97 Chi-Ha was a medium tank constructed with rivets in the armour plates. It had a crew of four with a two-men turret. The turret held the same low-velocity 57 mm gun from the Type 89. Armour was relatively thin, but quite standard at the time of 1930s, but this would become very vulnerable past 1941 when the Japanese war expands to the world.[1]

The Type 97 Chi-Ha, like the standard tanks of other countries, was used in a multitude of roles by adapting its chassis to another purpose such as the Ho-Ni assault gun series. The Type 97 Chi-Ha design was also improved upon multiple times with better armour and better guns, resulting in tanks like the Shinhoto Chi-Ha, Type 1 Chi-He, Type 2 Ho-I, and the Type 3 Chi-Nu.[1]

Combat usage

The Type 97 Chi-Ha would first see its main usage in the border conflict against the Soviet forces in the Battles of Khalkin-Gol. In the Japanese 1st Tank Group's total 85 tanks, there were four Type 97 mediums present in comparison to the 34 Type 89 I-Go, 35 Type 95 Ha-Go lights, and 13 tankettes.[2] Though the armoured units played a critical role in Japan's offensive against the Soviet Union, they were soon demolished by the Soviet armoured brigades, leading to their recall. The Japanese defeat at Khalkin-Gol did teach them a few lessons, first in that they were currently under-equipped for a fight against a large European force, which led to an enlargement of the Japanese armoured forces. Second was that the Japanese tanks were unsuitable for tank-to-tank fighting as the Soviet's main tank armament, the 45 mm cannon, was way more suitable than anything the Japanese had. This led to the development of a new anti-tank gun and tank gun for the Japanese Army, the Type 1 47 mm, though this would not see service until 1941.[1]

The next major usage of the Type 97 would be in Japan's conflict during World War II against the Allies. The Type 97 made up a good portion of the Japanese armoured forces when they invaded the Malay peninsula of British territory in Operation Centrifuge[2]. The Japanese tank's successes against Britain is attributed to the British belief that the terrain around Singapore made it very hard to use armoured forces, thus there was a lack of Allied armour available in the battle. In a span of three months, Japan managed to completely overcome the defenses of the Malay peninsula and the Allied forces there surrendered. The Burma campaign soon followed, but the fighting there would last most of the war's time.[1]

Japan then invaded the Americans in the Philippines. It was here that the Japanese armoured forces baptized the American tankers in their first tank-to-tank combat with M3 Stuarts against Type 95 Ha-Go. It was during this campaign that Colonel Seinosuke Sonoda of the 7th Tank Regiment advocated for the placement of the new Type 1 47 mm gun as the main armament of the Type 97 Chi-Ha. This would lead to the development and production of the next generation Type 97s, the Type 97-Kai (Improved) Shinhoto (New turret) Chi-Ha, which would eventually encompass the regular Type 97's production. Though now surpassed by the Type 97 Chi-Ha Kai, the regular Type 97 would still see usage alongside its improved variant in the Pacific campaign against the Allies.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Zaloga Steven. Japanese Tanks 1939-1945 Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2007
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Zaloga Steven. M4 Sherman vs Type 97 Chi-Ha: The Pacific 1945 Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2012

Read also

[Devblog] Type 97 Chi-Ha: Hope of the Army

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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


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 90 (B) "Fuji"
Type 10 MBT  TKX (P)* · TKX* · Type 10
Other  Ka-Chi
USA  ▅M4A3 (76) W · ▅M47
  *Prototype

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