TYPE 79 KO-GATA. JAPANESE TANK

The Type 79 Ko-Gata is a Japanese light tank from the interwar period. The first copies of this vehicle entered service shortly after the end of World War I. The car was powered by a single 39 HP engine. The length of the vehicle was 5 meters with a width of 1.74 meters. The main armament was either a 37mm cannon or a 6.5mm Type 91 machine gun. The Type 79 Ko-Gata is essentially a version of the Renault FT-17 tank, mass-produced for the French army at the end of World War I. As the Japanese army did not use tanks at that time, and as its participation in this armed conflict was very limited, it tried to obtain copies of this new type of weapon. The choice fell on the French Renault FT-17, which in Japan was called Type 79 Ko-Gata. Compared to its predecessor, it differed primarily in the armament, because Japanese tanks were relatively quickly converted from Puteaux cannons to machine guns of domestic production. Cars of this type took part in the so-called during the Manchurian Incident in 1931, and were later used primarily for training tasks.