Japanese Light Tank Mitsubishi Type 95 Ha-Go COBI 3115 - World War II 1:35

You know that:

• The Dowa Jidosha company began developing a tank for the Imperial Army in 1934.
• Japan needed a new tank badly as the existing Type 89 was so slow that it could not keep up with the advancing infantry. The design specification required a minimum speed of 40 km/h.
• The first prototype was ready for testing in January 1935.
• The designation Type 95 was given to the machine according to the year of production according to the imperial calendar 2595, when only the last two digits were used.
• Series production began in 1936 in Mitsubishi factories.
• Armaments officer Tomio Hara intervened in the design of the tank, insisting on his own design of the chassis suspension, without any experience in the design of machines. Despite the fact that the entire development team knew how bad such a design was, in keeping with Japanese tradition, no one dared contradict the high-ranking official.
• The designed chassis was so bad that the spring segments broke after only a few minutes of driving and the tank was "pulled" off the tracks. In the following weeks, a new solution was quietly adopted.
• From today's point of view, the interior lining made of asbestos sheets, which was supposed to protect the crew, is a frightening curiosity.
• The machine was gradually improved and eventually about 2,300 units were produced in ten versions.
• Period records indicate that the production cost of one unit was approximately EUR 388 000 in today's prices.

Technical parameters:

• dimensions: length 4.38 m, width 2.07 m, height 2.28 m
• weight 7 400 kg
• armouring 6-12 mm
• power unit diesel engine Mitsubishi A6120VDE (89 kW)
• Number of gears 4 forward and 1 reverse
• Fuel tank capacity 109 litres
• top speed 45 km/h on the road and 29 km/h off-road
• driving range 250 km on road, 200 km off-road
• main armament cannon type 94 calibre 37 mm
• secondary armament 2x machine gun type 97 MG calibre 7,7 mm
• Crew 3

General George S. Patton about the Type 95 tank:

"The Japanese tank was so small that I wanted to put one in my pocket as a souvenir, but when I tried to pick it up, it got completely crushed in my hand."