Chi-Ha (China)

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Rank VI | Premium | Golden Eagles
Chinese A-5C Pack
This page is about the medium tank Chi-Ha (China). For other uses, see Chi-Ha (Family). For the original vehicle, see Chi-Ha.
␗Chi-Ha
cn_type_97_chi_ha.png
GarageImage Chi-Ha (China).jpg
␗Chi-Ha
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

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 Mitsubishi 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

Armourfront / side / back
Hull25 / 25 / 20
Turret32 / 25 / 25
Crew4 people
Visibility75 %

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

Speedforward / back
AB45 / 21 km/h
RB and SB40 / 19 km/h
Number of gears8 forward
2 back
Weight14.8 t
Engine power
AB324 hp
RB and SB170 hp
Power-to-weight ratio
AB21.9 hp/t
RB and SB11.5 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 45 21 14.8 263 324 17.77 21.89
Realistic 40 19 150 170 10.14 11.49

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference
AB132 → 169 Sl icon.png
RB110 → 141 Sl icon.png
SB120 → 154 Sl icon.png
Total cost of modifications2 970 Rp icon.png
890 Sl icon.png
Talisman cost190 Ge icon.png
Crew training200 Sl icon.png
Experts1 000 Sl icon.png
Aces20 Ge icon.png
Research Aces96 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
10 / 10 / 20 % Sl icon.png
100 / 100 / 100 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Mobility Protection Firepower
Mods new tank traks.png
Tracks
Research:
200 Rp icon.png
Cost:
60 Sl icon.png
50 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank suspension.png
Suspension
Research:
165 Rp icon.png
Cost:
50 Sl icon.png
40 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank break.png
Brake System
Research:
165 Rp icon.png
Cost:
50 Sl icon.png
40 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank filter.png
Filters
Research:
250 Rp icon.png
Cost:
75 Sl icon.png
65 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank transmission.png
Transmission
Research:
320 Rp icon.png
Cost:
95 Sl icon.png
80 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank engine.png
Engine
Research:
320 Rp icon.png
Cost:
95 Sl icon.png
80 Ge icon.png
Mods tank tool kit.png
Improved Parts
Research:
200 Rp icon.png
Cost:
60 Sl icon.png
50 Ge icon.png
Mods extinguisher.png
Improved FPE
Research:
165 Rp icon.png
Cost:
50 Sl icon.png
40 Ge icon.png
Mods tank reinforcement cn.png
Crew Replenishment
Research:
250 Rp icon.png
Cost:
75 Sl icon.png
65 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank horizontal aiming.png
Horizontal Drive
Research:
200 Rp icon.png
Cost:
60 Sl icon.png
50 Ge icon.png
Mods tank cannon.png
Adjustment of Fire
Research:
165 Rp icon.png
Cost:
50 Sl icon.png
40 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank vertical aiming.png
Elevation Mechanism
Research:
250 Rp icon.png
Cost:
75 Sl icon.png
65 Ge icon.png
Mods art support.png
Artillery Support
Research:
320 Rp icon.png
Cost:
95 Sl icon.png
80 Ge icon.png

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 97 (57 mm)

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 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° Shoulder 14.5 20.0 24.3 26.9 28.6 4.29 3.80 3.50 3.30
Realistic 9.0 10.6 12.9 14.3 15.2

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 92 APHE APHE 21 21 19 16 14 13
Type 3 HEAT HEAT 55 55 55 55 55 55
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 92 APHE APHE 349 2.58 1.2 9 103 47° 60° 65°
Type 3 HEAT HEAT 380 1.8 0.05 0.1 303.36 62° 69° 73°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Chi-Ha (China)
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) (+129) No

Right side only: 69 (+51)

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)

The Chi-Ha has a 7.7 mm Type 97 machine gun mounted on the left side of the hull, and another on the turret roof. While they have enough ammunition, this machine gun is just simply not good enough. The rate of fire is below average, the penetration is bad, and there are only about 25 bullets in each magazine, making it impossible to provide a continuous machine-gun fire. The one things these machine guns can do is to incapacitate the fully exposed crews on some vehicles, as even a bit of armour might block out the weak bullets. The roof mounted gun can ward off some low-flying strafing planes but it is still inferior comparing to other machine guns like the American M1919 or M2HB.

7.7 mm Type 97
Mount Capacity (Belt) Fire rate Vertical Horizontal
Hull 3,000 (20) 499 ±10° ±15°
Pintle 1,000 (20) 499 0°/+60° -80°/+10°

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.

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
Videos

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