In 1931 tests of the tank Type 91 were carried out. Despite that tests were successful, the tank didn't satisfy military. And Japanese designers received a task to make cardinal re-planning of the machine. That was done.
First of all, designers decided to get rid of two machine-gun towers because military didn’t need them. The place of a forward tower was replaced by the special cabin in which there was a machine which gun was directed forward. The machine gun which was on the back part of a tower had to be replaced with a back machine-gun tower.
All of these changes have seriously allowed reducing the size of the tank so the result of this action is that the machine became lighter. The received reserve of weight was decided to use for armor increase of forehead hull and tower to 45 mm.
Moreover the tank case was considerably redesigned. The front armor was established under rational corners. It improved a tank armored protection even more.
As a result the machine became much more successful than its first prototype. Despite of increasing in thickness of armor in a front projection, the general decrease in the sizes of the machine didn't compensate the decrease of weight. And as a result the tank became to weigh only 16 tons. This results positively affected on its permeability and maximum speed. The speed grown up to 45 km/h. But it wasn't the main indicator. For the infantry tank, due to the classifications of the beginning of the 30th, this indicator wasn't so important. As infantry tanks were never used at the maximum speeds.
Technical characteristics:
Weight, t. - 16
Armoring:
The forehead of the body (top), mm - 45
The forehead of the body (bottom), mm - 30
Hull sides (top), mm - 15-20
Forehead tower, mm - 45
The roof of the tower, mm - 15
Armament:
Cannon, mm - 70
Machine gun, pcs / mm - 2 / 6.5
Engine - BMW, 6 cylinder carburetor
Engine power hp - 224
Transmission - mechanical type: 5-speed gearbox (4 + 1) airborne transmission and differential
Maximum travel speed km / h - 45
Cruising km - 200
The crew – 4(people)
Link - http://alternathistory.info/article/alternative-tank-type-91
First of all, designers decided to get rid of two machine-gun towers because military didn’t need them. The place of a forward tower was replaced by the special cabin in which there was a machine which gun was directed forward. The machine gun which was on the back part of a tower had to be replaced with a back machine-gun tower.
All of these changes have seriously allowed reducing the size of the tank so the result of this action is that the machine became lighter. The received reserve of weight was decided to use for armor increase of forehead hull and tower to 45 mm.
Moreover the tank case was considerably redesigned. The front armor was established under rational corners. It improved a tank armored protection even more.
As a result the machine became much more successful than its first prototype. Despite of increasing in thickness of armor in a front projection, the general decrease in the sizes of the machine didn't compensate the decrease of weight. And as a result the tank became to weigh only 16 tons. This results positively affected on its permeability and maximum speed. The speed grown up to 45 km/h. But it wasn't the main indicator. For the infantry tank, due to the classifications of the beginning of the 30th, this indicator wasn't so important. As infantry tanks were never used at the maximum speeds.
Technical characteristics:
Weight, t. - 16
Armoring:
The forehead of the body (top), mm - 45
The forehead of the body (bottom), mm - 30
Hull sides (top), mm - 15-20
Forehead tower, mm - 45
The roof of the tower, mm - 15
Armament:
Cannon, mm - 70
Machine gun, pcs / mm - 2 / 6.5
Engine - BMW, 6 cylinder carburetor
Engine power hp - 224
Transmission - mechanical type: 5-speed gearbox (4 + 1) airborne transmission and differential
Maximum travel speed km / h - 45
Cruising km - 200
The crew – 4(people)
Link - http://alternathistory.info/article/alternative-tank-type-91
