Full Name Type 98 Light Tank Ke-Ni
Class Heavy Vehicle
Movement 6
Armor Value 2
Vs Infantry (RNG / FPR) 5/5
Vs Vehicle (RNG / FPR) 4/4
Traits
Period 1941-1945
Theaters of Service
  • Pacific

Designed before World War II to replace the Type 95 Ha-Go, production did not start until 1942, with Hino Motors and Mitsubishi Heavy Industry producing just 104 by the end of the war in the Pacific. Designers sought a tank with thicker armor but about the same weight as the Type 95, and achieved it with the Type 98 (weighing-in at 7.2 tonnes). It featured welded armor of improved shape, an overall lower profile, and a larger two-man turret. Its more powerful engine propelled the tank up to 31 mph, and it had better stability than its predecessor. It featured a Type 100 37 mm (L36.7) gun plus one 7.7 mm Type 97 machine gun. Being released so late in the war, the Ke-Ni operational records are unknown and most likely they were given to young recruits and kept in the Home Islands.

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