Only rejected designs like the Vickers Medium Mark C were available. So the few new designs were all rated top secret making it almost impossible to receive samples. This was quite problematic as most countries had stopped military development after 1918 to recover from the expenses of the war. This development was supported by trials to order new tank models for tests. In addition requirements for a fast medium tank were given in 1927. Only the armor strength was rated too low. Most surprising the resulting tank, built in 1927, met almost all requirements and showed good characteristics and speed. The design was quite difficult as most details had to be developed from zero. IJA high command was not convinced but nevertheless technical specifications for a heavy multi-turret tank were given. Nevertheless in 1925 the Japanese Army Technical Bureau was sure to be able to develop a domestic tank within 2 years. The Kanto earthquake in 1923 delayed several projects. So the tanks were sent on exhibitions throughout Japan to advertise for the necessary expenses in modern technology until 1928. After the examinations and tests it became clear that the japanese industry was too weak to support a production at this time. In 1921 IJA decided to build up a domestic tank production. These vehicles were more modern and showed their value very soon. During the disarmament operation several white russian Austin armored cars were taken over. These were used to build up a tank company for test and training purposes at the IJA Infantry School.ĭuring the Siberian Intervention 1918 - 1922 Japan sent several domestically made armored cars to support their troops. In 1919 a few FT 17s and Medium Mark A Whippets were also transferred to Japan. A british Mark IV was delivered in late 1918 as technology transfer and propaganda vehicle. As France and Great Britain had built several thousand tanks which weren´t needed any more it was no problem to receive them. With the upcoming end of the war IJA decided in late 1918 to purchase examples of british and french tanks. This included chemical agents, light machineguns, aircraft,submarines, armored cars, tractors and also tanks. The japanese Army (IJA) had a lot of military observers on the European battlefields during WW1 which gathered many informations about modern war material and its use in a battle.
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