Another day, another Japanese news post! This is part five and shows their tank destroyers.
As the war progressed the Japanese were encountering more and more M4 Sherman tanks throughout the Pacific, which the Type 97 Chi-Ha was unable to deal with. To help fight the new American tanks the Type 1 Ho-Ni I tank destroyer was designed, it used the same basic chassis as the Chi-Ha but replaced the turret with an open topped superstructure with armour on the front and sides. Inside a modified version of the Type 90 75mm field gun was placed, which greatly increased the army's mobile anti-tank capability and gave them a fighting chance against the M4 Sherman.
The Type 1 Ho-Ni I is avaliavle in the Early/Mid-War time frame.
The Type 1 Ho-Ni I greatly added to the army's firepower but the open topped superstructure left the crew highly vulnerable. To fix this the new Type 3 Ho-Ni III was designed with a completely closed superstructure with thicker armour. By the time it was put into production the war situation had worsened and resources were becoming scarce, only 30-40 were built by the end of the war and all of them were station on the Japanese homeland in preparation for the expected invasion.
The Type 3 Ho-Ni III is avaliavle in the Late-War time frame.
With the threat of invasion looming over the Japanese homelands in 1945 the army was doing everything possibly to prepare for the expected onslaught of American tanks. The Type 5 Ho-Ru was designed to upgrade the then obsolete ten year old Type 95 Ha-Go light tank by replacing the turret with an open superstructure and a 47mm cannon turning it into a light tank destroyer. Its believed that a single prototype was ready just before the war ended but no photographic evidence to support this has thus been found.
The Type 5 Ho-Ru is avaliavle in the Total-War time frame.
The Type 5 Ho-Ri was a heavy tank destroyer based on the Type 5 Chi-Ri, the Ho-Ri was still in development when the war ended and none were built. The design of the Ho-Ri changed several times over the course of its development and there are four different known versions of the Ho-Ri, each having a different hull layout but the same track system and 105mm cannon. The one seen here is the most well known variant but not the most historical.
The Type 5 Ho-Ri is avaliavle in the Post-War time frame.
I had planed to also post the Japanese Artillery today too but you'll have to wait until tomorrow for them now.
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