Type 90
In service 1990 - In service
Based onType 74 (successor to)
Japan's first third-generation main battle tank: a compact, autoloaded 120 mm design with a three-man crew, built for the defence of Hokkaido.
Built byMitsubishi Heavy Industries
Development history
Development began in 1976 as the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force looked for a successor to the Type 74 capable of meeting Soviet armour on the northern island of Hokkaido. The result was one of the most technically advanced tanks of its generation: a licence-built Rheinmetall 120 mm smoothbore fed by a bustle autoloader, which allowed a three-man crew, modular composite armour, a hydropneumatic suspension that could tilt the hull to increase gun depression, and an automatic target tracker in the fire control system. Weight was deliberately held near fifty tonnes to suit Japanese bridges and rail loading gauges. Unit cost was very high, and only 341 were built against original plans for far more. Almost all were stationed with the 7th Armoured Division in Hokkaido.