Chi-Ri II

Chi-Ri II

Chi-To Late

ST-A1

Chi-Ri II

Chi-To Late

ST-A1

Japan

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
5.0	5.0	5.0

Class:

Medium tank

Research:40 000

Purchase:135 000

Description

The Type 5 Chi-Ri II is a Rank III Japanese medium tank with a battle rating of 5.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced along with the initial Japanese Ground Forces tree in Update 1.65 "Way of the Samurai". It's armed with a Type II Model I 75 mm cannon and is the first tank in the game to feature a fully functional auto-loader for full-size tank guns, giving it a two round capacity.

The Chi-Ri II is quite a unique tank to use in the game, presenting its own set of intriguing features as well as faults. On one hand, the Chi-Ri II has an auto-loading high-penetrating 75 mm gun that allows it to two shots in rapid succession. However, the tank's very large size and relatively thin, flat armor means it must be played very carefully.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour (Recoil tube, Gun mantlet)

Armour	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	75 mm (15°) Front plate 20 mm (81°) Front glacis 75 mm (9°) Joint plate 35 mm (59°) Lower glacis	35 mm (18°) Top 35 mm Bottom	35 mm Top 20 mm (38°) Bottom	20 mm
Turret	75 mm (15°) Turret front 50 mm (10°) Inner gun mantlet 20-75 mm (10-15°) Outer gun mantlet	50 mm (15°)	50 mm	20 mm
Armour	Sides	Roof
Cupola	75 mm	20 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels and bogies are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.
• Small parts of the suspension on the hull sides give 10 mm thick protection at their area.

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	51	10	41	852	1,049	20.78	25.59
Realistic	46	9		486	550	11.85	13.41

Armaments

Main armament

75 mm Type II Model I
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
100			-10°/+20°	±180°	N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	5.5	7.6	14.7	16.3	__.__
Realistic	5.5	6.4	7.8	8.6	__.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
4.2	3.8	3.5	__.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
Type 1 APHE	APHE	137	133	120	102	89	78
Type 4 Kou	APHE	157	155	142	124	111	105
Type 90 HE	HE	8	8	8	8	8	8

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
Type 1 APHE	APHE	865	6.6	1.3	15	67.84	°	47°	60°	65°
Type 4 Kou	APHE	865	6.8	1.2	14	80.64	°	47°	60°	65°
Type 90 HE	HE	830	6.2	0.1	0.1	490	+0°	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Last updated: 1.77.2.73

Ammo racks of the Chi-Ri II.

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	7th rack empty	8th rack empty	9th rack empty	10th rack empty	11th rack empty	Comments	Visual discrepancy
100	97 (+3)	88 (+12)	79 (+21)	70 (+30)	59 (+41)	48 (+52)	37 (+63)	26 (+74)	18 (+82)	9 (+91)	0 (+100)	Yes

First main ammo rack will replenish when not reloading

Hull sides empty: 76 (+24)

Additional armament

37 mm Type 1
Hull mount
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
120			-8°/+17°	±10°	N/A
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert Qualif.	Prior + Ace Qualif.
__.__	__.__	__.__	__.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
Type 94 APHE	APHE	55	50	34	25	2	2

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
Type 94 APHE	APHE	700	0.67	1.3	15	13	-1°	47°	60°	65°

Ammo racks

Last updated: 1.77.2.73

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	7th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
120	110 (+10)	100 (+20)	80 (+40)	60 (+60)	40 (+80)	20 (+100)	0 (+120)	Yes

Minimum secondary: 20 (+100)

Machine guns

7.7 mm Type 97
Hull mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
3,000 (20)				499	-8°/+17°	±10°

Usage in the battles

The best play style with the Chi-Ri II is a conservative one, a strategy equally applicable to its predecessor the Chi-To. One should lay a far distance from the enemy, using the high-velocity 75 mm gun in a sniping role than a close support. When an enemy appears, fire upon them, and the auto-loader allows for some mistakes as the next burst round is available in about a second for a follow-up shot. Once the three shots are expended, one has the option of either retreating back into cover to allow the autoloader to refill back with its three shells, or simply wait for the gun to reload one shell and fire. The latter option is viable due to the Chi-Ri's good reload speed even without the autoloader. The decent gun depression of -10° allows the Chi-Ri to exploit hull-down positions to maximize cover, so use that to gain a battlefield advantage.

Another play style is a close-quarter ones, going against everything the paragraph above suggests. The three-round capacity of the auto-loader means the Chi-Ri has some decent close-range firepower to use if it can catch a group of enemies unawares from the sides or rear. The Chi-Ri's decent mobility, especially for its huge size, helps with that. Being able to fire two rapid shots of high-damaging 75 mm shell can allow the Chi-Ri to effectively neutralize in a record time before they have time to react. After those shots, the Chi-Ri can either wait in cover and reload the shells, or just fire each shell as its reloaded. However, the tank is always vulnerable to being spotted and surprised due to its massive profile, very weak armor and slow turret traverse. Furthermore, actually reloading the autoloader takes far longer than firing them off. As such, it's easily gunned down then if not supported by friendly tanks.

One last thing to note is the secondary 37 mm hull gun. This often doesn't get much use, as it only has 55mm of penetration point-blank, making it useless against the majority of the Chi-Ri's opponents. The gun also can't be used to range the 75mm main cannon due to having a very different trajectory. Furthermore, the crew member in charge of the gun is the first to be relocated in case another crew member is knocked out, rendering it unusable unless one gets the chance to get more crew at an objective. However, the 37mm still has its uses against very thinly-armored opponents such as Hellcats, the turrets of AA vehicles, and the sides of mediums at close enough range. In addition, it can also be used to trick opponents into thinking that the Chi-Ri has already fired all of its shells, causing them to expose themselves and be vulnerable to return fire.

At this stage, most medium, heavy tanks, and tank destroyer can penetrate the Chi-Ri's armour with ease. Take caution on the battlefield.

At BR 5.0, the Chi-Ri starts to face some tanks that are quite resistant to its 75 mm cannon, namely the Tiger H1 and IS-1 heavy tanks. While the Type 4 Kou shell has fantastic post-penetration damage thanks to its high explosive filler, it only has 157mm of penetration. While this is enough to go through these tanks' weak spots, taking the time to aim for them is disadvantageous in a "shoot first, aim later" type of engagement. Meanwhile, Tigers, IS-1s, and Panthers can take out the Chi-Ri out with ease due to the Chi-Ri's thin armor and massive profile. Thus, it is best to pounce on and surprise enemy tanks rather than face them in a frontal duel, catch them by their sides and blow up their interior. The same strategies in place for using the Chi-To Late to deal with the horrors of 5.0 should be implemented with the Chi-Ri.

Modules

Tier	Mobility		Protection	Firepower
I	Tracks		Parts	Horizontal Drive
II	Suspension	Brake System	FPE	Adjustment of Fire	Type 4 Kou
III	Filters		Crew Replenishment	Elevation Mechanism
IV	Transmission	Engine		Artillery Support

Pros and cons

Pros:

• 3.3 second reload between each shell in the autoloader with a fully trained crew
• First Stage Ammo Storage enables the tank to reload in less then 6 seconds even when the auto-loader is empty
• With the First Stage Ammo Storage mechanic, the auto-loader is reloaded when not firing the gun
• Exceptional burst damage potential
• Shell performance similar to the T-34-85's 85 mm
• Very competitive gun depression (-10°)
• Secondary 37 mm armament allows for engaging weaker enemy without wasting 75 mm shells, and can be used to trick inattentive enemy players into thinking the main gun has fired
• Decent mobility, even with stock engine

Cons:

• With the First Stage Ammo Storage mechanic, the 4 ammo racks in the back of the turret will be the last to be depleted, increasing the chance of ammo racking
• Actually reloading the autoloader takes a very long time
• Learning curve to use tank properly is worse than the M3 Mediums
• Massive profile
• Abysmal hull turn time
• Unimpressive turret traverse speed
• Thin, poorly sloped armour all around
• Angled hull front cheek sections make armour angling useless
• 37 mm can only aim forwards and is very weak for Rank 3
• Average accuracy
• Maximum of 157 mm of penetration with the best shell, can have trouble penetrating same and higher-rank heavy tanks

History

Chi-Ri

Under the pretext of their lackluster tank designs, the Japanese worked on creating a tank that can surpass the Allies' main tank, the M4 Sherman. Upgraded designs made to deal with the Sherman led to the Type 3 Chi-Nu and the Type 4 Chi-To. While these two were quite capable against the Sherman, they did not represent the best that the Japanese had to offer.

Sometime during the development period of the Chi-Nu and the Chi-To, the Japanese designed a medium tank far more sophisticated than anything they had done previously. The tank was to be equipped with the same 75 mm gun as the Chi-To, except it had an auto-loading system on it. There was to be a hull-mounted 37 mm with a machine gun as well. The chassis was similar to the Chi-To's, but lengthened to eight road wheels per side. It was also powered by a 550 hp gasoline aircraft engine designed by BMW from Germany. The tank was classified as the Type 5 Chi-Ri and a single prototype without the main gun was produced in May 1945, but efforts were diverted to the more practical Type 4 Chi-To. Due to that, the war ended with only a single Type 5 Chi-Ri prototype produced.

Chi-Ri II

Though Chi-Ri showed the development process for the new tank design, improvements often come to during prototype stages for a more manageable tank design. The improvements on the Chi-Ri, which would be called the Chi-Ri II, were mainly the removal or addition of certain features, with the added ones namely from the Chi-To. Notable differences would be the use of a supercharged Mitsubishi diesel engine instead of a German gasoline engine, the change in suspension and turret design to resemble the Chi-To's, and the removal of the 37 mm secondary armament. It is uncertain how useful these simplifications are since these are all plans never put into practice.

Production plans

If the Chi-Ri ever entered production, the Japanese had plans for a bit of an upgrade in its firepower. It would be armed with a gun based off of the Type 98 88 mm anti-aircraft gun, giving it a much higher velocity cannon that makes the vehicle more than capable of taking out Allied tanks. With the Chi-Ri in production and in numbers, it would be used in Japan's final stand against the Allies should they invade the home islands.

However, like many late-war tanks of Japan, they would never see any battle service due to their surrender in September 1945. The single Chi-Ri prototype was captured by the ensuing American occupation force, which they transported to the Aberdeen Proving Grounds for tests. Records show that the Chi-Ri prototype was scrapped along with other foreign tanks on October 1952.

Media

The Shooting Range #26 - Metal Beasts section at 00:46 discusses the Chi-Ri II.

Read also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example,

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

ETC.

Sources

• Zaloga Steven. Japanese Tanks 1939-1945 Great Britain: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2007
• Davis, Frank. "Chi Ri II - Japanese Tier 6/7 Medium." For the Record. Blogger.com, 05 June 2013. Web. 12 Jan. 2017. [1]
• Sun, Eun Ae. Chi-Ri & Chi-To: Aberdeen Tank Scrapping. YouTube, YouTube, 7 Aug. 2017, [2]