Type 94 tankette

Type 94
Type 94 tankette at the Armor School History Museum
Type	Tankette
Place of origin	Empire of Japan
Service history
Used by	Imperial Japanese Army National Revolutionary Army Chinese Red Army Manchukuo Imperial Army
Production history
Designed	1932
Unit cost	25,300 yen ($6,798 USD) in August 1939, excluding armament[1][2]
Produced	1935–1937
No. built	823[3]
Specifications
Mass	3.4 tonnes (3.35 long tons; 3.75 short tons)[4]
Length	3.08 m (10 ft 1 in)[4]
Width	1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)[4]
Height	1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)[4]
Crew	2 (commander, driver)[5]
Armor	8–12 mm (0.31–0.47 in)[6]
Main armament	6.5mm Type 91 machine gun[4]
Engine	Mitsubishi Franklin air-cooled inline 4-cylinder Gasoline 32 hp (24 kW)[4]
Power/weight	9 hp/tonne (6.7 kW/tonne)
Suspension	2-wheel bogie
Operational range	200 km (120 mi)[4]
Maximum speed	40 km/h (25 mph)[4]

The Type 94 tankette (Japanese: 九四式軽装甲車, romanized: Kyūyon-shiki keisōkōsha, literally "94 type light armored car"; also known as TK, an abbreviation of Tokushu Keninsha, literally "special tractor"^[7]) was a tankette used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War, at Nomonhan against the Soviet Union, and in World War II. Although tankettes were often used as ammunition tractors, and general infantry support, they were designed for reconnaissance, and not for direct combat.^[8] The lightweight Type 94 proved effective in China as the Chinese National Revolutionary Army had only three tank battalions to oppose them, and those tank battalions were equipped only with some British export models and Italian CV-33 tankettes.^[9] As with nearly all tankettes built in the 1920s and 1930s, they had thin armor that could be penetrated by .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine gun fire at 600 yards (550 m) range.^[10]