[[World War II]]-era Japanese medium [[tank]] developed in the 1930s for infantry support. The "[i]Chi[/i]" comes from "[i]chuu-sensha[/i]," meaning "medium tank," and the "[i]Ha[/i]" is derived from the third syllable of "[i]iroha[/i]," a Japanese poem form. Together this gives Chi-Ha the meaning of "third developed medium tank." 

Produced by Mitsubishi, it was armed with a 57mm cannon in an offset turret. Its armour-penetrating capabilities were low, and the tank had extremely weak armor that could be penetrated by small arms fire at close range.

Later on, the primary armament was upgraded to a 47 mm tank gun with improved armour-piercing capabilities. This improved version is often referred to by such names as the "Chi-Ha with Advanced Gun Turret," "Chi-Ha 'Kai' (Revised)," or "Type 97 Kai." However, these nicknames did not come into use until after the war.

The original Chi-Ha was equipped with a short, cylindrical gun turret and a characteristic radio [[antennae|antenna]] popularly known as a "[i][[hachimaki]][/i] antenna," while the gun turret on the Chi-Ha Kai had an angular shape.

One of the few strong points of this tank was its versatility, as a number of military machines were developed using the Chi-Ha's framework, such as the 75mm [[Type 3 Chi-Nu]] medium tank, and various self-propelled artillery, tank destroyers, and amphibious tanks (though only a very small number were produced and utilized).

h4. See also

* [[List of Ground Vehicles]]

h4. External links

* "Wikipedia: Type 97 Chi-Ha":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_97_Chi-Ha
九七式中戦車 97式中戦車