Chi-Ha Short Gun

Chi-Ha Short Gun

Chi-Ha Short Gun

Japan

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.0	1.7	1.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Medium tank

Purchase:1 000

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This page is about the premium Japanese medium tank Chi-Ha Short Gun. For other uses, see Chi-Ha (Family).

Description

The Type 97 Chi-Ha Short Gun is a premium rank II Japanese medium tank with a battle rating of 2.0 (AB) and 1.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.65 "Way of the Samurai" with the initial Japanese tank tree.

The Chi-Ha Short Gun is a Naval refit of the Chi-Ha Kai with a Navy short gun (120 mm), it keeps the decent mobility from the Chi-Ha (Family) chassis but loses the turret rotation speed due the added weight of the gun.

General info

The Type 97 Chi-Ha is an upgraded version of the earlier Type 89 I-Go Ko. 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 km/h on the I-Go Ko to 40 km/h on the Chi-Ha.

The Chi-Ha Short Gun is a later iteration of the Chi-Ha with a modified turret coming from the Chi-Ha Kai. For firepower the Chi-Ha Short Gun has a Navy short gun (120 mm) that launches 13 kg HE shells.

Survivability and 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 (11-31°) Front plate 15-17 mm (62-80°) Front glacis 15 mm (37-59°) Lower glacis	25 mm (25 / 40°) Top 25 mm Bottom	15 mm (69°) Top 20 mm (5-57°)	12 mm
Turret	25 mm (9-10°) Turret front 32-35 mm Gun mantlet	25 mm (9-10°)	25 mm	10 mm
Armour	Sides	Roof
Cupola	25 mm	10 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and tracks are 15 mm thick.

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

120 mm Navy short gun					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	23	-8°/+15°	±180°	N/A	5.7	7.9	9.6	10.6	11.3	13.0	11.5	10.6	10.0
Realistic					3.6	4.2	5.1	5.6	6.0

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
Short Ordinary HE	HE	30	30	30	30	30	30

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Normalisation at 30° from horizontal	Ricochet
								0%	50%	100%
Short Ordinary HE	HE	290	13.0	0.1	0.1	2,52	+0.0°	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Chi-Ha Short Gun

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
23	18 (+5)	0 (+23)	No

Optics

Chi-Ha Short Gun Optics
	Default magnification	Maximum magnification
Main Gun optics	X1.8	X3.5
Comparable optics	___

Machine guns

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

Usage in battles

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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:

• Familiar Chi-Ha (Family) chassis
• Typically, if the round penetrates, it kills
• Ten-second reload (Expert Crew) with a 120 mm cannon
• Five crew members
• 30 mm of penetration at any range and angle

Cons:

• Only fires high explosive rounds
• Poor turret traverse, just 5.1°/s
• Large shell drop (shells only travel 290 m/s)
• No roof-mounted anti-aircraft/infantry machine gun

History

Development (Chi-Ha)

Type 97 Chi-Ha Medium Tank

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.

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 medium tank. Production started in 1938 all the way to 1942 for a total of 1162 tanks produced.

Unarmed ShinHoTo turret on Type 97 Hull

Development (Chi-Ha Kai)

Japanese Army observers had watched tank developments in Europe and studied as avidly as any European military the operational experiences gained by German, Soviet, and Italian tanks in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). In order to improve the anti-tank capability of the Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank, a new enlarged three-man turret armed with a high-velocity 47 mm gun was combined with the Chi-Ha's hull; hence the new name Type 97-Kai ("improved") or ShinHoTo Chi-Ha ("new turret"). In 1942, it replaced the original model Type 97 in production. In addition "about 300" of the Type 97 tanks with the older model turret and 57 mm main gun were converted.

American Photo on naval yard stored SNLF Chi-Ha 120 mm's in Sasebo, October, 1945

Development (Chi-Ha Short Gun)

The Short Barrel 120 mm Gun Tank was one variant produced late in the war for the Imperial Japanese Navy. They wanted a gun tank similar to the Type 2 Ho-I for close support, but with greater fire-power. The standard 47 mm main tank gun was replaced with a short barrel naval 12 cm (120 mm) "anti-submarine" gun with a muzzle brake added. In addition, it had a small storage compartment added onto the back of the ShinHoTo Chi-Ha turret. Only "about a dozen" were produced for deployment by the Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces.

Media

There's only 3 known images of Chi-Ha 120 mm's existing, all being American and taken at the naval yard in Sasebo, Japan, October 1945.

• 
• Chi-Ha-120-2.jpg
• 

See also

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External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the tank;
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Japan premium ground vehicles
Light tanks	Ha-Go Commander · Type 16 (FPS)
Medium tanks	Chi-Ha Short Gun · Chi-He (5th Regiment) · Ka-Chi · Chi-Nu II · Type 74 (G) · Type 90 (B) "Fuji"
Heavy tanks	Ro-Go · ▅Heavy Tank No.6
Tank destroyers	Ho-Ri Prototype · Type 75 MLRS