Chi-Ha Kai (China)

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Revision as of 03:24, 12 January 2020 by AUJason (talk | contribs) (improved the description of protection, mobility and armaments, added usage and pros & cons)

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VTOL | Rank 5 USA
AV-8A Harrier Pack
␗Chi-Ha Kai
cn_type_97_kai.png
␗Chi-Ha Kai
AB RB SB
2.3 2.3 2.3
Class:
Research:7 900 Specs-Card-Exp.png
Purchase:10 000 Specs-Card-Lion.png
Show in game

Description

The ␗Type 97 Chi-Ha Kai is a rank II Chinese light tank with a battle rating of 2.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision".

General info

Survivability and armour

The Chi-ha Kai has little to no armor against its common opponents like the Pz.II. It has only 25mm of armor on the turret cheeks and the frontal plate, and 20-25mm at the hull sides. Its thin armor might only, with some luck, bounce off some auto-cannon shells while angling, or block the low penetration shells from a distance. Unfortunately, when being hit and penetrated, the Chi-ha is usually destroyed with one or two shots. However, this tank has a fairly small frontal profile, making it harder to be hit. Also, for the guns lacking post-penetration damage, the Chi-ha has an okay survivability, as it has a total of 5 crews and they are not too cramped together due to the long hull. The huge transmission system at the front of the tank can absorb a good amount of shells without hurting the crew members, at the price of making the tank immobile and vulnerable.

Mobility

In general, this tank can get to pretty much anywhere an average medium tank can get to. The engine of the Chi-ha Kai is not powerful at all with its 170 hp power output, but luckily the tank itself only weights 15 tons, therefore giving it an average power-to-weight ratio of 11.33. The 40 km/h top speed is pretty useful as it reaches this speed easily. The turning ability is not ideal, as its tracks are long, narrow and close to each other, making it slow and sluggish in a turn.

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: Type 1 (47 mm)

The Chi-Ha Kai is armed with a Type 1 (47 mm) cannon with a maximum of 104 rounds. The 75 mm penetration at 100 m makes it easy to penetrate most of its opponents at its BR, and if penetrated, the damage is usually big enough to destroy a tank. The fast reload time (about 4 seconds) allows it to quickly fire the second shell if the first one missed or didn't penetrate. It has an amazing depression of 15 degrees and a vertical stabiliser that works when your tank is slower than 11 km/h, which are always the advantages. However the shells drop dramatically at long distances, making it hard to snipe the enemies far away.

Machine guns

Main article: Type 97 (7.7 mm)

The Chi-Ha Kai has a 7.7 mm Type 97 machine gun mounted on the left side of the hull. While it has enough ammunition, this MG is just simply not good enough. The rate of fire is below average, the penetration is bad, it can only fire forward, and there are only about 25 bullets in each magazine, making it impossible to provide a continuous machine-gun fire. The one thing this MG can do is to kill the fully exposed crews on some vehicles, as even a bit of armor might block out the weak bullets.

Usage in battles

The Chi-ha Kai is best used as a front line support vehicle. Although it has its down sides, a player who knows this tank well can utilise its interesting potentials. Stay close to your teammates, and try to use its maneuverability to flank the enemies when possible, while being careful and sneaky as it can be one-shotted by a lot of tanks.

For two types of terrains there are two good tactics for the Chi-ha Kai. The first is commonly known as the hull-down position, best suited for hilly terrains. It requires you to find a slope/hill to cover up your hull, only exposing a small area of the turret and use the amazing gun depression to shoot the enemies. This way it is hard for the enemies to accurately hit your small turret while you lay behind the hill and fire comfortable shots at them.

The next tactic is better in the towns, involving the use of your stabiliser. Travel in the areas where the enemies are most likely to appear while looking around. If you see an enemy, move out of cover at about 10 km/h (the stabiliser will only work if the tank is slower than 11 km/h), quickly aim and shoot while keeping the tank moving. For the enemy it is very hard to keep his guns on you if you are moving, but for you, with the gun being stabilised, it is pretty much as accurate as firing stationary, making it an easy kill. The stabiliser will also surprise you in a close-quarter encounter as you will be ready to fire first while the enemy is still waiting for his gun to stop wobbling.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Good top speed
  • Impressive 15 degrees gun depression
  • Good penetration and damage
  • Good rate of fire
  • Has a stabiliser
  • Armor is slightly better than the previous Chi-ha
  • Small profile

Cons:

  • Weak armor
  • Sluggish in a turn
  • Shells drop a lot at long distances

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

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 light tanks
Type 63  Object 211 · Type 63 · ZTS63
Type 62  Type 62
WZ551  PTL02 · WMA301
ZBL08  ZLT11
Type 86  ZBD86
WZ502  ZBD04A
ROC  M41D · M64
Type 59  QN506
USA  ␗M8 LAC · ␗M3A3 Stuart · ␗M3A3 (1st PTG) · ␗M5A1 · ␗M24 · ␗M18 GMC · ␗M41A3
USSR  ␗T-26 · T-26 No.531 · ␗PT-76