At the outbreak of the
Pacific War, the
Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank and
Type 95 Ha-Go light tank designs comprised the mainstay of the armored units of the
Imperial Japanese Army. As the war progressed, these tanks started to face significant challenges posed by Allied tanks. In the
Burma and
Philippines Campaigns, the firepower of the 57 mm cannon mounted on the Type 97 was proven to be insufficient against Allied tanks. The Imperial Japanese Army therefore developed the
Type 1 47 mm tank gun, which used a lighter high-explosive round with greater armor penetrating power. This gun was mounted on
Type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha and
Type 1 Chi-He medium tanks. At the later stages of the war, large numbers of
American M4 Sherman tanks arrived at the front line and increased pressure on Japanese armored forces. The decided to develop a new medium tank to counter the enemy threat as well as a replacement for the Type 97. The Army Technical Bureau had been working on the
Type 4 Chi-To medium tank as the counter to the M4 Sherman, but there were problems and delays in the program. As a result, a stopgap tank was required. The Type 3 medium tank Chi-Nu was developed to cope with the M4 Sherman. Development of the Type 3 Chi-Nu occurred in 1943. The low priority given to tank production meant that the Type 3 did not actually enter production until 1944, by which time raw materials were in very short supply, and in 1945 much of Japan's industrial infrastructure had been destroyed by
American strategic bombing. This led to its production run being severely curtailed. Only a total of between 144 and 166 units were produced. The Type 3 Chi-Nu was the last tank that was fielded by the Imperial Japanese armed forces, and was still in production at the end of the war. ==Design==