Type 16 maneuver combat vehicle

The Type 16 maneuver combat vehicle is a wheeled armored fighting vehicle of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, designed to be light and small enough for aircraft deployment and for rapid movement on narrow roads and in built-up areas. Despite its light armor it carries a large caliber gun able to engage much larger armored vehicles and personnel; the gun is loaded by hand to save cost. Its concept grew from the Future Combat Vehicle program of 2003 and the Light Combat Vehicle technology demonstration, and the design settled on eight wheels instead of the six first proposed. The Technical Research and Development Institute of the Japanese defence ministry unveiled its fourth prototype on 9 October 2013. In March 2023 the defence agency announced that 250 would enter service, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries later showed a related eight-wheeled armoured vehicle, the MAV, that reuses its technology.