Chi-Ha Kai TD

This page is about the Japanese medium tank Chi-Ha Kai TD. For other versions, see Chi-Ha (Family).

Chi-Ha Kai TD

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Chi-Ha Kai TD

Description

The Type 97 Chi-Ha Kai TD (九七式中戦車 改「チハ」) is a gift rank Japanese medium tank with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced during Update "Ixwa Strike" as a reward for watching the Japan Tournament 2021 on Twitch.tv. It is a Twitch drop variation of the Chi-Ha Kai, only differing in offering a different default camouflage.

General info

Survivability and armour

The Chi-Ha Kai TD has little to no armour against its common opponents like the Pz.II. The hull is identical to its predecessor, the Chi-Ha; while the turret is new, it has no better protection as well. With only 25 mm of armour on the turret cheeks and the frontal plate, and 20-25 mm at the hull sides, its protection is comparable with light tanks at its battle rating. The thin armour might, with some luck, protect against some autocannon shells while angling, or low penetration shells from range, while the highly sloped front glacis plate can also ricochet poorly aimed smaller calibre rounds. However, in general the armour should not be relied upon.

Unfortunately, when being hit and penetrated, the Chi-Ha Kai TD is usually destroyed with one or two shots. However, this tank has a fairly small frontal profile, making it harder to be hit. Also, for the guns lacking post-penetration damage, the Chi-Ha Kai TD has an alright survivability, as it has a total of 5 crews and they are fairly spaced out due to the long hull. The huge transmission system at the front of the tank can also serve as further protection for the crew members, absorbing penetrating hits at the price of disabling the transmission, making the tank immobile and thus vulnerable.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	25 mm (11-31°) Front plate 15-17 mm (62-80°) Front glacis 15 mm (37-59°) Lower glacis	25 mm (25 / 40°) Top 25 mm Bottom	15 mm (69°) Top 20 mm (5-57°)	12 mm
Turret	25 mm (9-10°) Turret front 30-35 mm Gun mantlet	25 mm (9-10°)	25 mm	10 mm
Cupola	25 mm	25 mm	25 mm	10 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and tracks are 15 mm thick.

Mobility

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade				263			__.__
Realistic				150			__.__

In general, this tank can get to pretty much anywhere an average medium tank can get to. The engine of the Chi-Ha Kai TD is not powerful at all, but luckily the tank itself only weighs 15 tons, therefore giving it an average power-to-weight ratio. The 40 km/h top speed is pretty useful as it reaches this speed easily. The turning ability is not ideal, as its tracks are long, narrow and close to each other, making it slow and sluggish in a turn.

Armaments

Main armament

The primary improvement that the Chi-Ha Kai TD has over its predecessor is the new 47 mm high-velocity gun. This gun boasts much higher penetration with APHE over the short-barreled 57 mm gun, and with the much faster shell, it also much easier to hit distant targets with. Unfortunately, as with almost all Imperial Japanese Army tanks, the 47 mm Type 1 APHE shell is not capped, and thus tends to perform poorly against sloped armour. Nevertheless, if it does penetrate, the shell has a respectable explosive filler that is usually enough to knock out the smaller tanks that the Chi-Ha Kai TD usually faces with a single shot. Larger tanks with larger crews such as the T-28 may not be killed with one penetration.

47 mm Type 1					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	104	-15°/+20°	±180°	Vertical	14.28	19.76	24.00	26.54	28.24	4.29	3.80	3.50	3.30
Realistic					8.92	10.50	12.75	14.10	15.00

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Type 1 APHE	APHE	77	75	67	58	50	44

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
Type 1 APHE	APHE	808	1.49	1.2	9	22.4	47°	60°	65°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the Chi-Ha Kai TD

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
104	75 (+29)	71 (+33)	66 (+38)	54 (+50)	9 (+95)	1 (+103)	Yes

Note:

• Turret empty: 66 (+48) shells.

Machine guns

Like most Imperial Japanese tanks, the Chi-Ha Kai TD does not have a coaxial machine gun, and thus must rely on the turret pintle-mounted machine gun. The hull mounted machine gun has very restricted angles of fire and is also mounted fairly low in the hull, thus its utility is fairly limited. The Type 97 machine guns are fed by 20-round box magazines, which along with the small calibre severely limits the effectiveness of the pintle-mounted machine gun against aircraft.

7.7 mm Type 97
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Hull	3,000 (20)	499	-8°/+10°	±15°
Pintle	1,000 (20)	499	±20°	-10°/+60°

Usage in battles

The Chi-Ha Kai (Kai means "improved) is an upgrade of the Chi-Ha that replaces the low-velocity 57 mm gun with the very good 47 mm Type 1 tank gun and adds one more crew to make a total of five with three in the turret. Compared to other rank I vehicles this gun is powerful and very good.

The 5^th crewman, in a three-man turret, improves survivability accordingly. However it is still a lightly armoured vehicle with only moderate mobility, so the tactics used with the Chi-Ha are to stay close to teammates and always play sneaky remain the most important.

Another problem is that the Chi-Ha Kai retains the hand-cranked turret, which is quite slow to turn. So the best idea is to plan ahead before any attacks, think where the enemy may be and find a place to hide the bulky tank from the enemy and wait for the enemy to come towards the position. Now, this is somewhat important "Don't look for the enemy, let the enemy look for the Chi-Ha Kai.", Of course, the Chi-Ha Kai could still go look for the enemy, but always be on alert and make sure to have a friend for firing support.

The engine provides adequate power - the power-weight ratio is comparable with other tanks of the late 1930's - but this tank was built from 1942 onwards so it is low compared to contemporary designs.

Enemies worth noting:

• B1 bis / ter: the B1 can easily destroy the Chi-Ha when using both of its guns, but when angling only the 47 mm gun is available, meaning that the Chi-Ha can take some more hits. It is very hard to destroy the Char B1 from a distance, so get as close as possible with the ideal range being no more than 300 m. Aim at their flat hull side, turret side, hull cannon mount or the driving compartment (the near-vertical frontal armour right below the turret). Upon penetrating, the Chi-Ha's 47 mm APHE can knock out several crews, and your quick reload allows you to finish the rest off in time. However if the B1 has folded armour plates on their hull sides then it is a B1 ter, avoid shooting at its sides.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Improved sloped armour compared to the reserve vehicles
• Quite fast (up to 44 km/h), allowing it to get to certain spots in time
• Lovely climbing ability combined with the amazing -15 degrees gun depression, it is great at mountain combat
• Has a vertical stabiliser which most tanks don't have, allowing the Chi-Ha Kai to get the first shot off
• Decent cannon can frontally penetrate common targets like M3 Lee and T-70
• Great turning ability in low gear

Cons:

• 47 mm armament may be underpowered in an uptier, especially in frontal engagements against a B1 bis or Matilda
• Thin armour can be penetrated by 20 mm / .50 cal up close
• Rifle calibre turret-mounted machine gun with small 20-round magazine, severely restricting utility against aircraft

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Chi-Ha Kai TD from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

Twitch Drop Tank Chi-Ha Kai TD - 8Bit Dane

See also

Related Development

• Chi-Ha (Family)
  • Chi-Ha - (Base hull)
  • Chi-Ha Long Gun - (Navy variant)
  • Chi-Ha Short Gun - (Navy variant)
  • Ho-Ni I / III - (Gun tank variant(s))
  • Ho-Ro - (Howitzer tank variant)
• Chi-He - (Successor)

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

• Pz.38(t)
• Pz.III (Family) - (Early models)
• Turan I
• M15/42
• AMC.35 (ACG.1)
• Valentine I
• Lago I

External links

• Japan Tournament 2021