Type 95 Ha Go Light Tank
Technical Information
Background
Code named "Ha-Gō" (ハ号) designated that it was the "third type" of tank developed. During early 1930s, the Japanese army began experimenting on a mechanized warfare unit combining infantry with tanks. However, the Type 89 medium tank could not keep pace with the motorized infantry, which could move at 40 km/h by truck. To solve this problem, the Army Technical Bureau proposed a new light tank at 40 km/h speed and started development in 1933. The prototype of the new tank was finished in 1934 at the Army's Sagami Arsenal. It was a high-speed and lightly-armored tank similar to the British cruiser tank or Soviet BT tank.
This tank has a rounded turret
with a square front. The tracks have four bogies wheels in two
pairs on each side. The tank had no radio equipment.
Production
Over 2,200 were produced
from 1936 - 1943. Manufactured by Mitsubishi, Niigata, Tekkosho,
Kobe Seikosho, Kokura Rikugun Zoheisho.
Used by the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy. In 1940 the Thai army acquired approximately 50 Type 95s. A number of them spearheaded the Thai invasion of Burma's Shan States during the Second World War. In 1952 the tanks were decommissioned.
