Chi-He

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Challenger DS Pack
jp_type_1_chi_he.png
Chi-He
AB RB SB
2.7 2.7 2.7
Class:
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Description

GarageImage Chi-He.jpg


The Type 1 Chi-He is a Rank II Japanese medium tank with a battle rating of 2.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.65 "Way of the Samurai" along with the initial Japanese Ground Forces Tree. Featuring a better armour, slightly better mobility with the same 47 mm Type 1 gun as it's Chi-Ha Kai predecessor, the Chi-He is an enjoyable tank to play in the early ranks of the game.

This tank is the middle-range Japanese traditional design: there is no surprise but it gets just a bit better every time, as does the enemy. Do not change tactics and play just like you did with earlier vehicles: stick to allies and use your mobility to get to the point with other fast vehicles. Use its good gun depression to hide behind hills and snipe enemies. With its good reverse speed, it can easily get you out of nasty situations/hide you fast.

Survivability
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 BR, it will only bounce poorly aimed shots. 5-man crew is very survivable, leaving some room for mistakes. Side armour is vulnerable to HMG and auto-cannon fire, beware flanking fast tanks.

Mobility
This is one of the main feature 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, you can! Want to flank? follow other light tanks in the move, provide them with enhanced firepower ! The enemy team is coming your way? Hit the gas (in a rearward position) and fire as you retreat.

Firepower
Comparatively to other light/medium tanks at this BR, the Type 1 gun is quite surprising with 88 mm of penetration at point-blank range and has a good reload speed. Plus, this fires APHE shells, which do great post-penetration damage. Comparatively, the 45 mm 20-K gun on Russian 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 unarmored SPG and SPAA one might encounter at the BR.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour Type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour
  • Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet, Machine gun ports)
Armour Front 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
Armour Sides Roof
Cupola 50 mm 12 mm

Notes:

  • Suspension wheels and tracks are both 15 mm thick

Mobility

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons) Add-on Armor
weight (tons)
Max speed (km/h)
17.1 N/A 49 (AB)
44 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode Stock Upgraded
Arcade 372 458
Realistic/Simulator 212 240
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode Stock Upgraded
Arcade 21.75 26.78
Realistic/Simulator 12.40 14.03

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: Type 1 (47 mm)
47 mm Type 1
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 8.3 11.5 14.0 24.8 __.__
Realistic 8.3 9.8 11.9 13.2 __.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
4.30 3.80 3.5 __.__
Ammunition
Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Penetration in mm @ 90°
10m 100m 500m 1000m 1500m 2000m
Type 1 APHE APHE 88 83 69 50 40 33
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 1 APHE APHE 822 1.4 1.2 15 47° 60° 65°
Ammo racks
Ammo racks on the Chi-He
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

Turret empty: 73 (+47)

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 -16°/+10° ±19°
Pintle mount
Capacity (Belt capacity) Fire rate
(shots/minute)
Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
1,000 (20) 499 -10°/+70° ±60°

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).

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • 47 mm cannon can do some decent damage
  • Small profile
  • Some early kind of stabilisation system, 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
  • Only one choice of ammo
  • 47 mm is not accurate in long distance fights
  • Packed 5-men crew can lead to easy one-hit kills.
  • 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 post 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 rivveted. 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 to 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

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 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

Read also

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