The or Type 98A Ke-Ni Ko (also known as Type 98 Chi-Ni light tank
/ref>) was designed to replace the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

Type 95 Ha-Go The was a light tank used by the Empire of Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War, at Battles of Khalkhin Gol, Nomonhan against the Soviet Union, and in the Second World War. It proved sufficient against infantry but, like the American M3 Stu ...

light tank A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movements in and out of combat, to outmaneuver heavier tanks. It is smaller in size with thinner armor and a less powerful main gun, tailored for better tactical mobility and ease of ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

's most numerous

armored fighting vehicle An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked. Examples of AFVs are tanks, armoured cars, ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Although designed before World War II began, production did not start until 1942, with 104 being produced by the end of the war in the Pacific.

History and development

The Type 98 developed in 1938 was a light tank with the same weight as the earlier

, but with thicker armor. The first prototype was originally known as the "Chi-Ni Model A" and completed by

Hino Motors Hino Motors, Ltd., commonly known as Hino, is a Japanese manufacturer of commercial vehicles and diesel engines (including those for trucks, buses and other vehicles) headquartered in Hino, Tokyo. The company was established in 1942 as a corpora ...

. The second prototype was originally known as the "Chi-Ni Model B" (a/k/a the "Type 98B Ke-Ni Otsu") and completed by Mitsubishi. This second experimental model had a different suspension system with four larger road-wheels, similar to the US

Christie suspension The Christie suspension is a suspension system developed by American engineer J. Walter Christie for his tank designs. It allowed considerably longer movement than conventional leaf spring systems then in common use, which allowed his tanks to h ...

design. During field trials the "Model A" demonstrated superior performance, especially in off-road capabilities, so the Hino design was accepted. However, the Hino "Model A" prototype did not enter production at that time. This can be attributed to the adequate performance of the aging Type 95 against obsolete tanks of

National Revolutionary Army The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; ), sometimes shortened to Revolutionary Army () before 1928, and as National Army () after 1928, was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in China ...

of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

forces. With the start of

in the Pacific, the

Imperial Japanese Army General Staff The , also called the Army General Staff, was one of the two principal agencies charged with overseeing the Imperial Japanese Army. Role The was created in April 1872, along with the Navy Ministry, to replace the Ministry of Military Affairs ...

realized that the Type 95 design was vulnerable to .50 caliber machine gun fire and attempted to develop a light tank with the same weight as the Type 95, but with thicker armor. A production contract for the Type 98 was awarded to Hino Motors. Series production began in 1942. A total of 104 Type 98s are known to have been built: 1 in 1941, 24 in 1942 and 79 in 1943. By the end of the war, the Imperial Navy had priority on

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

for warships and aircraft construction, leaving the

at a low priority for raw material to build tanks.

Design

The design of the Type 98, in comparison to the Type 95, featured thicker, welded armor of improved shape, including the use of a Mitsubishi Type 100 6-Cylinder air-cooled diesel engine, rated at 130 horsepower, and located sideways to make maintenance easier. The height of the tank was 50 cm lower in profile, and slightly lighter and shorter in length than the original Type 95. It could travel at even with its thicker

armor Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or fr ...

. Three pairs of

bogies A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...

with six road-wheels connected to the chassis using

bell crank A bellcrank is a type of crank that changes motion through an angle. The angle can be any angle from 0 to 360 degrees, but 90 degrees and 180 degrees are most common. The name comes from its first use, changing the vertical pull on a rope to a h ...

s, which transferred any movement in the bogies into sideways motion that was absorbed by springs. This gave the tank better stability over its predecessor. In contrast to the one-man turret of Type 95, the Type 98 had a two-man turret, which offered more room for the gunner/commander. In the turret was mounted a Type 100 37 mm tank gun with an angle of fire of -15 to +20 degrees, a

muzzle velocity Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile (bullet, pellet, slug, ball/shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately to i ...

of 760 m/s, and also a coaxial 7.7 mm

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

. The driver was located in a central position of the chassis. To maneuver the tank, he used a standard steering wheel.

Variants

* :A Mitsubishi-designed alternative to the Type 98A model made by Hino. The most distinct feature was the

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Suspension (topology), in mathematics * Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics * Suspension of a ring, in mathematics * Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspend ...

with four large road-wheels supported by side-ways facing coil springs, in a manner similar to

. It was an experimental model, which never entered production. *

Type 2 Ke-To light tank The was a light tank of World War II, produced in small numbers for the Imperial Japanese Army as an improvement of the existing Type 98 Ke-Ni. No Type 2 Ke-To light tanks are known to have engaged in combat prior to Japan's surrender at the end ...

:An improvement of the Type 98A production model, fitted with the more powerful Type 1 37 mm gun featuring a muzzle velocity of 800 m/s.History of War: Type 98 Type 2 Ke-To Light Tank
/ref> The new 37 mm gun used gave the tank "slightly better performance". The Type 2 Ke-To went into production in 1944–1945 with 34 tanks built. Type 98 Ta-Se SPAAG

*Type 98 20 mm anti-aircraft tank Ta-Se :In November 1941, development began on an anti-aircraft version of the Type 98 with a 20 mm AA gun converted from a

Type 98 20 mm AA machine cannon The Type 98 20 mm AA machine cannon was the most common light anti-aircraft gun of the Imperial Japanese Army. It entered service in 1938 and was used until the end of World War II. After World War II this gun was used by the Indonesian Army ...

in a circumferential turret. The first prototype was designated

Type 98 Ta-Se The experimental Type 98 Ta-Se was a Japanese self-propelled anti-aircraft gun using a Type 98 20 mm anti-aircraft gun. It used the chassis of the Type 98 Ke-Ni light tank. It did not enter production. Development During development of the ...

, for ''Taikū'' ("anti-air") ''sensha'' ("tank"). During trials it was determined that the chassis was too small to be a stable "firing platform". There was also a prototype built with modified twin

Type 2 20 mm AA machine cannon The Type 2 20 mm AA machine cannon was a Japanese-designed anti-aircraft gun, based on the assembly of the German Flak 38. It entered service in 1942. Design Introduced in 1942, compared to the earlier Type 98 20 mm AA machine cannon, Type ...

s. It was known as the

Type 98 20 mm AAG Tank The Type 98 20 mm AAG (anti-air gun) tank was a Japanese self-propelled anti-aircraft gun using a twin Soki Type II 20 mm anti-air gun. They were combined with the chassis of the Type 98 Ke-Ni. The gun crew worked from a raised platform ...

. The project was canceled and neither tank went into production.

Notes

References

* * * *

External links