[日本軍] 九五式軽戦車 ハ号 WW2 Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go

This is an excerpt of training and combat scenes of the Imperial Japanese Army's Type 95 Light Tank Ha-Go from Japanese news. The scenes are arranged in chronological order of the news issue numbers. The Type 95 Light Tank Ha-Go was a tank (light tank) of the Imperial Japanese Army developed and adopted in the mid-1930s. With 2,378 units produced, it was the most numerous Japanese tank ever, and along with the Type 97 Medium Tank Chi-Ha, it served as the main tank of the Japanese army during World War II. This tank significantly improved speed compared to the Type 89 Medium Tank's maximum speed of 25 km/h, achieving a maximum speed of over 40 km/h, enabling coordinated operations with trucks. The prototype, weighing over 7.5 tons, achieved a maximum speed of 43 km/h. A modified prototype, lightened to 6.5 tons, achieved a maximum speed of 45 km/h. Therefore, the tank's armor thickness was only 12mm, which was just enough to withstand 7.62mm armor-piercing rounds. The early and mid-production models of this tank were equipped with the Type 94 37mm tank gun. Although it used the same projectile as the Type 94 37mm gun, it used a shorter cartridge case, meaning there was no interchangeability at the ammunition cartridge level. The propellant charge was also smaller, resulting in a slower muzzle velocity and inferior armor-penetrating capability compared to the Type 94 gun. Later models were equipped with the Type 98 37mm tank gun, which used the same ammunition cartridge as the Type 94 37mm gun, improving armor-penetrating capability. The Type 94 37mm gun, whose penetration power is said to be similar to that of the Type 98 37mm tank gun, only had the capability to penetrate 49mm armor plate at 200m even when using the prototype armor-piercing round, the Type 1 C egg-shaped armor-piercing round (equivalent to the Type 1 armor-piercing round). Penetration would be difficult unless the round hit the side and rear hull (approximately 38mm thick) of an M4 medium tank or the frontal armor of an M3 light tank at close range and with a near-perfect hit. This tank was developed at a time when other countries' tank designs were increasingly focused on anti-tank warfare, making it Japan's first tank designed with anti-tank combat in mind. However, its anti-tank capabilities were low, and it consistently struggled in combat against enemy tanks. On the other hand, its superior mobility allowed it to perform reasonably well in battles against armies lacking powerful armored or anti-tank weapons. In the Nomonhan Incident, where the Type 95 light tank was first deployed in earnest, there were instances where it successfully engaged and destroyed Soviet T-26 and BT-5 light tanks in formations of three. In the Philippine campaign, the opening battle of the Pacific War, the Type 95 light tank successfully repelled a platoon of five M3 light tanks. However, in the Burma campaign, when it encountered British and Indian M3 light tanks, despite landing numerous hits, all of the Type 95's shots were deflected. On the other hand, it had few engine failures and was able to withstand long-distance travel well. In particular, it played an active role in the blitzkrieg tactics alongside the Type 97 medium tank during the Malayan campaign. Some vehicles even fought from the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra, enduring marches of over 2,000 km. (Excerpted from Wikipedia)