The is a light anti-tank vehicle developed by Japan in the late 1950s. It mounts two M40 106 mm recoilless rifles as its main armament.

Development

In the mid-1950s the

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

contracted for one prototype each from Komatsu (SS1) and

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the predecessor of Mitsubishi Mo ...

(SS2) powered by a 110 hp six-cylinder

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

and fitted with two

recoilless rifle A recoilless rifle, recoilless launcher or recoilless gun, sometimes abbreviated "RR" or "RCL" (for ReCoilLess) is a type of lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher that is designed to eject some form of countermass such as propel ...

s. They were delivered in 1956. A second series of prototypes was built with 4 recoilless rifles, but adoption of the 105mm American

M40 recoilless rifle The M40 recoilless rifle is a portable, crew-served 105 mm recoilless rifle made in the United States. Intended primarily as an anti-tank weapon, it could also be employed in an antipersonnel role with the use of an antipersonnel-tracer fl ...

forced the reversion to two weapons. The Type 60 was designed for ambush attacks against enemy tanks, and mounting four weapons gave the vehicle a rather high profile. A third series of three heavier prototypes was built by Komatsu as SS4, with a more powerful engine, a new transmission and clutch and a two-speed auxiliary transmission. They were accepted into service in September 1960. Starting in 1974, a 150 hp Komatsu SA4D105 air-cooled, 4-cylinder diesel engine was fitted.

Operation

The commander is seated to the left of the two weapons and his position is attached to their mounting so that he remains at the same height when they are elevated for firing. The M40s can be fired from the lowered position, but their traverse is limited to 20°, elevation to +10° and depression to -5°. The elevation mechanism is manually operated and allows the weapons to traverse 30° to each side. The loader is seated to the left of the commander and must exit through his rear-opening hatch to reload the recoilless rifles while on top of the engine deck or behind the vehicle. Eight rounds of ammunition are stowed on board, and two outside. In 2001 Japan reported to the

United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) (french: Bureau des affaires du désarmement) is an Office of the United Nations Secretariat established in January 1998 as the Department for Disarmament Affairs, part of United Nations Secretary-Gen ...

that 140 Type 60s were in service.

Similar vehicles

M50 Ontos Ontos, officially the Rifle, Multiple 106 mm, Self-propelled, M50, was a U.S. light armored tracked anti-tank vehicle developed in the 1950s. It mounted six 106 mm manually loaded M40 recoilless rifles as its main armament, which could b ...

Notes

References

External links

Type 60 on OnWar.com
{{Fire support vehicles 106 mm artillery Tank destroyers Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Armoured fighting vehicles of Japan Komatsu Limited Military vehicles introduced in the 1960s