[fl][i]After the parentheses of the immediate postwar, Japan reorganized its Army

as part of the Self-Defense Forces. Despite the constitutional and political

limitations, the Japanese industry of

armored means produced during the Cold War vehicles comparable to the European and
North American counterparts.[/span][/span][p]
[fl][b]Type 61 main battle tank[/span][/span][p]
When the Army of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces was reorganized after the Second
World War, all of its main equipment was of American origin, including the light
tank M-24 Chaffee (470 units

received) and the medium tank M-4 sherman (360 units received). However the
American tanks posed a notable inconvenience: they were projected for personnel
whose average size was bigger than that

of the Japanese personnel. The works for the project of a new Japanese tank started
in 1954 and the first prototypes were ready in 1957. They were made four different
series of prototypes,

denominated ST-A1, ST-A2, ST-A3 and ST-A4. This latter was selected for entering
service with the denomination Type 61 main battle tank, and the production was
started in the Maruko Workshops of

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The first tanks of the production series were
completed in 1962 and a total of 500 units was delivered to the Army. Despite the
new main battle tank Type 74 entered

service in the 1970s, the Type 61 remained in service until the year 2000.[p]
[aimg96]high_res/tanks_japan/type_61_main_battle_tank_02.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/
tanks_japan/type_61_main_battle_tank_02.jpg[/aimg96][p]
The appearance of the Type 61 resembled that of the American equivalent M-47 Patton
- which the Japanese had evaluated in small quantities in the early 1950s -,
including a similar 90-millimeter

cannon, but the Japanese vehicle was more compact thanks to the lesser stature of
the Japanese crews. The hull was built by welding, but the glacis plate could be
removed for maintenance tasks; the

turret was built by casting. The driver sat on the front part to the right, whereas
the rest of the crew was placed on the turret: the commander and the gunner to the
right and the loader to the

left. The rear part of the turret had a space for storage. The engine and the
transmission were in the rear part of the hull. The Japanese have always preferred
Diesel engines for the advantages

that these have over gasoline engines, among them a low consumption and lesser risk
of fire. The engine was turbocharged and refrigerated by air.[p]
The suspension was of torsion bar type and included six twin road wheels on each
side, with a fore drive sprocket and a rear idler, and three return rollers. The
armament comprised a 90-millimeter

cannon of national construction and a 7.62-millimeter coaxial machine gun. The

movement of rotation and elevation of the cannon was carried by an hydraulic system
or by manual controls in case of

emergency. The cannon lacked a stabilization system and fire control was of
mechanical type. A 12.7-millimeter Browning machine gun was mounted upon the
commander's cupola for anti-aircraft
defense; it could be aimed and fired from inside the turret. The vehicle could ford
depths up to one meter without any preparation but there was no provision for
installing a snorkel for deep

fording. In the 1970s some units were fitted with infrared lights for driving and
an infrared projector for night operations.[p]
Compared to other tanks of the early 1960s, such as the Leopard I and the AMX-30,
the Type 61 has an inferior cannon, but it should be kept in mind that it was
projected following the Japanese

requirements. The size and the weight of the tank were kept within certain
dimensions to allow its transportation on railway, which in Japan meant to cross
numerous narrow tunnels. Three basic

variants of the Type 61 were developed. The first one is a bridgelayer, which
weighs 37 tonnes, has a crew of three and carries a scissor-tipe bridge. The second
one is the Type 70 recovery

vehicle, whose turret was replaced by a superstructure upon which an A-shaped frame
pivots to lift the tank components. It has a crew of four and weighes 35 tonnes.
Its armament comprises 7.62 and

12.7-millimeter machine guns and an 81-millimeter mortar. The third one was a
vehicle for Engineers, also with a crew of four and a weight of 35 tonnes.[p]
[aimg96]high_res/tanks_japan/type_61_main_battle_tank_01.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/
tanks_japan/type_61_main_battle_tank_01.jpg[/aimg96][p]
[box]
Crew: 4[p]
Armament: One Type 61 90-millimeter 52-caliber rifled cannon; one Browning M1919A4
7.62-millimeter coaxial machine gun; one Browning M2 12.7-millimeter machine gun in
the commander's cupola[p]
Ammunitions: N/A[p]
Armor: Up to 64 millimeters in the hull; up to 114 millimeters in the turret[p]
Lenght (total): 8.19 meters[p]
Lenght (hull): 6.3 meters[p]
Width: 2.95 meters[p]
Height (including command cupola): 3.16 meters[p]
Weight: 35 tonnes[p]
Ground pressure: 0.95 kilograms/square centimeter[p]
Ground clearance: 40 centimeters[p]
Engine: Mitsubishi 12HM21WT Diesel of 12 cylinders, air-cooled, of 600 horsepower
at 2100 revolutions per minute[p]
Power/weight ratio: 17.14 horsepower/tonne[p]
Maximum speed (in road): 45 kilometers/hour[p]
Maximum operational range (in road): 200 kilometers[p]
Maximum surmountable trench: 2.489 meters[p]
Maximum surmountable step: 0.685 meters[p]
Maximum surmountable slope: 60 percent[p]
Maximum fording: 1 meter[p]
[/div][p]
[fl][b]Type 74 main battle tank[/span][/span][p]
Already in the early 1960s the Japanese understood that the Type 61 would not
satisfy their requirements for the 1980s, so in 1964 it was started the work for
the project of a new main battle tank.
The two first prototypes, known as STB-1, were finished in the late 1969 in the
Maruko Workshops of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Other later prototypes, STB-3 and
STB-6, were built as well before
the vehicle were considered as valid for entering production, which happened in
1973 in the new tank factory of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Sagamihara. The
first order was of 280 units and the

vehicle has been never exported due to the policy from the Japanese Government of
not effectuating sales of any kind of armament. When production ended in 1989 a
total of 893 exemplars had been

built and in the early 1990s the largest part of the Type 61 tanks had been
replaced, being kept a few of them for instruction. As 2016 goes on the largest
part of the Type 74 tanks still remains

in service.[p]
The distribution of the space in the tank is conventional, with the driver placed
on the front to the left and the other three crew members on the turret. The
commander and the gunner are placed to

the right and the loader to the left. The armor is of conventional type but very
sloped. The engine and transmission are located on the rear part. The suspension of
hydropneumatic type is probably

the most remarkable feature of the Type 74. It comprises five twin road wheels, a
rear drive sprocket and a fore idler, without return rollers. This suspension can
be regulated by the driver

according to the type of terrain on which the vehicle will move. In a rocky or
rough area the suspension can be adjusted to increase ground clearance, to a
maximum of 65 centimeters, and in a flat

terrain ground clearance can be decreased to a minimum of 20 centimeters, allowing

a greater stability. By individually regulating the height on each pair of wheels
the tank can be tilted up to six

degrees in pitch, and by regulating the height on each side the tank can be tilted
up to nine degrees on roll. This feature can be used for obtaining a tactical
advantage: when the tank stands in

an inverse slope, the suspension can be lowered in the fore part and raised in the
rear part, which grants to the cannon a depression angle wider than normal.[p]
The hydropneumatic suspension has been adopted as well for the successors of the
Type 74, but in the time when this tank was in development this system was truly
uncommon. The only contemporary

tank in service that featured this type of suspension was the Swedish experimental
tank Stridsvagn 103, which required this system because of it lacked a rotatory
turret and had its cannon totally

fixed to the hull. Other than that, the hydropneumatic suspension had been used as
well in the prototypes of the North American medium tank T95, from the second half
of the 1950s, and those for the

German-North American project MBT-70, in development during the 1960s; but both
projects were finally cancelled.[p]
The Type 74 is armed with the British 105-millimeter rifled cannon L7A1, built in
Japan under licence. This weapon was also used for the German Leopard I and the
North American M-60A1. The cannon

has a vertical firing arc ranging from -5 to +15 degrees and is fully stabilized in
both vertical and horizontal axes. A 7.62-millimeter machine is mounted co-axially
to the cannon. The fire

control system includes a laser rangefinder and a ballistic computer linked to a

series of long-range ambient sensors, both of national manufacture. The vehicle
carries about 50 projectiles for the

cannon. The prototypes had an automatic loader, but its cost was considered
excessive for being installed in the series vehicles. A 12.7-millimeter machine gun
for anti-aircraft defense is

installed in the top of the turret. In the prototypes this weapon could be aimed
and fired from inside the turret, but unfortunately this characteristic was deemed
as well as too expensive for

serial production. Three smoke launchers are mounted at each side of the turret.
Other equipment includes infrared driving lights and an infrared projector mounted
to the left of the main armament

(not present in the pictures). Besides, all the tanks are fitted with an NBC
system. Finally, the Type 74 can ford up to one meter without preparation and up to
three meters if fitted with a

snorkel.[p]
[aimg96]high_res/tanks_japan/type_74_main_battle_tank_02.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/
tanks_japan/type_74_main_battle_tank_02.jpg[/aimg96][p]
When projecting the Type 74, the Japanese put effort into combining all the
characteristics of a modern tank without exceeding the limit weight of 38 tonnes.
But some important cuts were made on

the development and this eventually resulted in an insatisfying project, for it was
soon outclassed by the western models of latter generation, fitted with more
powerful cannons and composite

armor. The replacement for the Type 74 gave as result a much larger and heavier
tank, which incorporated laminated multilayer armor and weighed about 50 tonnes,
and required a much more powerful

engine of 1500 horsepower. Its main armament was the 120-millimeter smoothbore
cannon built in Germany by Rheinmetall, which had been chosen as well for the North
American M1A1 Abrams. The cannon

was complemented by an automatic loader and a very sophisticated fire control

system. This tank was in development by Mitsubishi during twelve years and in 1986
appeared the prototype, denominated

TK-X. The final tank entered limited production in 1990 (341 units were built until
2009), with the denomination Type 90, and was delivered to the troops two years
later.[p]
The appearance of the Type 90 is very similar to that of the early version of the
German Leopard II. With this tank, Japan exhibited in a very convincing way its
capability for building a main

battle tank comparable to any other in the world. And it achieved this even if it
was unable to access the vast arms market, which would greatly help to regain the
development costs or enjoy the

benefits of a scalable economy. Being a country which has forbidden to own

offensive weapons, its Constitution forbids the sales of weapons, albeit this could
change in the future. In 2016, the
most modern Japanese tank is the Type 10, a fourth-generation main battle tank; its
production might have reached one hundred of units so far. As tensions have been
growing with China, Japan has

been assuming huge expenses for enhancing its armored weapon to the highest level.
But still today the Type 74 represents about a half of the whole armored weapon in
Japan. Components of this

veteran tank were used for the Type 75 self-propelled 155-millimeter howitzer,
which entered service in 1977 and is similar in appearance to the North American
M109A1, with the artillery piece

installed in a fully rotatory turret.[p]

[aimg96]high_res/tanks_japan/type_74_main_battle_tank_01.jpg[*aimg96]low_res/
tanks_japan/type_74_main_battle_tank_01.jpg[/aimg96][p]
[box]
Crew: 4[p]
Armament: One Vickers L7A1 105-millimeter 51-caliber rifled cannon; one Type 74
7.62-millimeter coaxial machine gun; one Browning M2 12.7-millimeter machine gun in
the top of the turret[p]
Ammunitions: 50 for 105-millimeter cannon; 600 for 12.7-millimeter machine gun;
2000 for 7.62-millimeter machine gun[p]
Armor: Up to 80 millimeters in the hull; up to 195 millimeters in the turret[p]
Lenght (total): 9.088 meters[p]
Lenght (hull): 6.85 meters[p]
Width: 3.18 meters[p]
Height (including command cupola): 2.675 meters[p]
Weight: 38 tonnes[p]
Ground pressure: 0.85 kilograms/square centimeter[p]
Ground clearance: Variable from 20 to 65 centimeters[p]
Engine: Mitsubishi 10ZF21WT Diesel of 10 cylinders, air-cooled, of 750 horsepower
at 2200 revolutions per minute[p]
Power/weight ratio: 19.73 horsepower/tonne[p]
Maximum speed (in road): 60 kilometers/hour[p]
Maximum operational range (in road): 500 kilometers[p]
Maximum surmountable trench: 2.7 meters[p]
Maximum surmountable step: 1 meter[p]
Maximum surmountable slope: 60 percent[p]
Maximum fording: 1 meter[p]
[/div][p]