Chi-Ha Kai TD

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Rank 7 USA
F-5C Pack
This page is about the Japanese medium tank Chi-Ha Kai TD. For other versions, see Chi-Ha (Family).
Chi-Ha Kai TD
Chi-Ha Kai TD
AB RB SB
2.3 2.3 2.3
Class:
Show in game

Description

The Type 97 Chi-Ha Kai TD (九七式中戦車 改「チハ」) is a gift rank II Japanese medium tank with a battle rating of 2.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during Update "Ixwa Strike" as a reward for watching the Japan Tournament 2021 on Twitch.tv. It is a Twitch drop variation of the Chi-Ha Kai, only differing in offering a different default camouflage.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back
Hull25 / 25 / 20
Turret32 / 25 / 25
Crew5 people
Visibility75 %

The Chi-Ha Kai TD has little to no armour against its common opponents like the Pz.II. The hull is identical to its predecessor, the Chi-Ha; while the turret is new, it has no better protection as well. With only 25 mm of armour on the turret cheeks and the frontal plate, and 20-25 mm at the hull sides, its protection is comparable with light tanks at its battle rating. The thin armour might, with some luck, protect against some autocannon shells while angling, or low penetration shells from range, while the highly sloped front glacis plate can also ricochet poorly aimed smaller calibre rounds. However, in general the armour should not be relied upon.

Unfortunately, when being hit and penetrated, the Chi-Ha Kai TD 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 Kai TD has an alright survivability, as it has a total of 5 crews and they are fairly spaced out due to the long hull. The huge transmission system at the front of the tank can also serve as further protection for the crew members, absorbing penetrating hits at the price of disabling the transmission, making the tank immobile and thus vulnerable.

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour
Armour Front (Slope angle) 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
30-35 mm Gun mantlet
25 mm (9-10°) 25 mm 10 mm
Cupola 25 mm 25 mm 25 mm 10 mm
Notes:
  • Suspension wheels and tracks are 15 mm thick.

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

In general, this tank can get to pretty much anywhere an average medium tank can get to. The engine of the Chi-Ha Kai TD is not powerful at all, but luckily the tank itself only weighs 15 tons, therefore giving it an average power-to-weight ratio. 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.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference
AB417 → 536 Sl icon.png
RB446 → 574 Sl icon.png
SB559 → 719 Sl icon.png
Total cost of modifications6 930 Rp icon.png
6 740 Sl icon.png
Talisman cost530 Ge icon.png
Crew training3 000 Sl icon.png
Experts10 000 Sl icon.png
Aces115 Ge icon.png
Research Aces160 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
30 / 40 / 40 % Sl icon.png
112 / 112 / 112 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Mobility Protection Firepower
Mods new tank traks.png
Tracks
Research:
460 Rp icon.png
Cost:
450 Sl icon.png
75 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank suspension.png
Suspension
Research:
390 Rp icon.png
Cost:
380 Sl icon.png
60 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank break.png
Brake System
Research:
390 Rp icon.png
Cost:
380 Sl icon.png
60 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank filter.png
Filters
Research:
580 Rp icon.png
Cost:
560 Sl icon.png
90 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank transmission.png
Transmission
Research:
750 Rp icon.png
Cost:
730 Sl icon.png
120 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank engine.png
Engine
Research:
750 Rp icon.png
Cost:
730 Sl icon.png
120 Ge icon.png
Mods tank tool kit.png
Improved Parts
Research:
460 Rp icon.png
Cost:
450 Sl icon.png
75 Ge icon.png
Mods extinguisher.png
Improved FPE
Research:
390 Rp icon.png
Cost:
380 Sl icon.png
60 Ge icon.png
Mods tank reinforcement jp.png
Crew Replenishment
Research:
580 Rp icon.png
Cost:
560 Sl icon.png
90 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank horizontal aiming.png
Horizontal Drive
Research:
460 Rp icon.png
Cost:
450 Sl icon.png
75 Ge icon.png
Mods tank cannon.png
Adjustment of Fire
Research:
390 Rp icon.png
Cost:
380 Sl icon.png
60 Ge icon.png
Mods new tank vertical aiming.png
Elevation Mechanism
Research:
580 Rp icon.png
Cost:
560 Sl icon.png
90 Ge icon.png
Mods art support.png
Artillery Support
Research:
750 Rp icon.png
Cost:
730 Sl icon.png
120 Ge icon.png

Armaments

Main armament

Shoulder stabilizer
Reduces the swing of the gun in one plane while moving
Ammunition104 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
4.3 → 3.3 s
Vertical guidance-15° / 20°
Main article: Type 1 (47 mm)
The primary improvement that the Chi-Ha Kai TD has over its predecessor is the new 47 mm high-velocity gun. This gun boasts much higher penetration with APHE over the short-barreled 57 mm gun, and with the much faster shell, it also much easier to hit distant targets with. Unfortunately, as with almost all Imperial Japanese Army tanks, the 47 mm Type 1 APHE shell is not capped, and thus tends to perform poorly against sloped armour. Nevertheless, if it does penetrate, the shell has a respectable explosive filler that is usually enough to knock out the smaller tanks that the Chi-Ha Kai TD usually faces with a single shot. Larger tanks with larger crews such as the T-28 may not be killed with one penetration.
47 mm Type 1 Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 104 -15°/+20° ±180° Vertical 14.28 19.76 24.00 26.54 28.24 4.29 3.80 3.50 3.30
Realistic 8.92 10.50 12.75 14.10 15.00

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 1 APHE APHE 77 75 67 58 50 44
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 1 APHE APHE 808 1.49 1.2 9 22.4 47° 60° 65°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Chi-Ha Kai TD
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
5th
rack empty
6th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
104 75 (+29) 71 (+33) 66 (+38) 54 (+50) (+95) (+103) Yes

Note:

  • Turret empty: 66 (+48) shells.

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)
Like most Imperial Japanese tanks, the Chi-Ha Kai TD does not have a coaxial machine gun, and thus must rely on the turret pintle-mounted machine gun. The hull mounted machine gun has very restricted angles of fire and is also mounted fairly low in the hull, thus its utility is fairly limited. The Type 97 machine guns are fed by 20-round box magazines, which along with the small calibre severely limits the effectiveness of the pintle-mounted machine gun against aircraft.
7.7 mm Type 97
Mount Capacity (Belt) Fire rate Vertical Horizontal
Hull 3,000 (20) 499 -8°/+10° ±15°
Pintle 1,000 (20) 499 ±20° -10°/+60°

Usage in battles

The Chi-Ha Kai (Kai means "improved) is an upgrade of the Chi-Ha that replaces the low-velocity 57 mm gun with the very good 47 mm Type 1 tank gun and adds one more crew to make a total of five with three in the turret. Compared to other rank I vehicles this gun is powerful and very good.

The 5th crewman, in a three-man turret, improves survivability accordingly. However it is still a lightly armoured vehicle with only moderate mobility, so the tactics used with the Chi-Ha are to stay close to teammates and always play sneaky remain the most important.

Another problem is that the Chi-Ha Kai retains the hand-cranked turret, which is quite slow to turn. So the best idea is to plan ahead before any attacks, 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 towards the position. Now, this is somewhat important "Don't look for the enemy, let the enemy look for the Chi-Ha Kai.", Of course, the Chi-Ha Kai could still go look for the enemy, but always be on alert and make sure to have a friend for firing support.

The engine provides adequate power - the power-weight ratio is comparable with other tanks of the late 1930's - but this tank was built from 1942 onwards so it is low compared to contemporary designs.

Enemies worth noting:

  • B1 bis / ter: the B1 can easily destroy the Chi-Ha when using both of its guns, but when angling only the 47 mm gun is available, meaning that the Chi-Ha can take some more hits. It is very hard to destroy the Char B1 from a distance, so get as close as possible with the ideal range being no more than 300 m. Aim at their flat hull side, turret side, hull cannon mount or the driving compartment (the near-vertical frontal armour right below the turret). Upon penetrating, the Chi-Ha's 47 mm APHE can knock out several crews, and your quick reload allows you to finish the rest off in time. However if the B1 has folded armour plates on their hull sides then it is a B1 ter, avoid shooting at its sides.

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
  • Has a vertical stabiliser which most tanks don't have, allowing the Chi-Ha Kai to get the first shot off
  • Decent cannon can frontally penetrate common targets like M3 Lee and T-70
  • Great turning ability in low gear

Cons:

  • 47 mm armament may be underpowered in an uptier, especially in frontal engagements against a B1 bis or Matilda
  • Thin armour can be penetrated by 20 mm / .50 cal up close
  • Rifle calibre turret-mounted machine gun with small 20-round magazine, severely restricting utility against aircraft

History

Media

Skins
Videos

See also

Related Development
Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

External links


Twitch Drop vehicles
Ground vehicles  M5A1 TD · Pz.II C TD · Pz.III J1 TD · Sd.Kfz.234/2 TD · BT-7 TD · Chi-Ha Kai TD · Strv m/39 TD
Aviation  P-40E-1 TD
Fleet  Dark Aggressor TD

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