Type 90 tank

The Type 90 is a main battle tank of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, designed and built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to replace the Type 61 and supplement the Type 74. Development was a joint effort with the Technology Research and Development Institute of the Japan Defense Agency, and a second series of four prototypes built between 1986 and 1988 carried the Rheinmetall 120 mm smoothbore gun, which Japan Steel Works makes under licence. The tank was formally introduced in August 1990 and 341 were produced between 1990 and 2009. A mechanical autoloader developed by Mitsubishi lets it run with a crew of three, and a Mitsubishi 10ZG32WT ten-cylinder two-stroke diesel gives 1,120 kilowatts, with hydropneumatic suspension that can be adjusted on the move. At 50.2 tonnes it is hard to move around Japan, so it is assigned preferentially to the Fuji School Brigade and the 7th Armored Division in Hokkaido. Apart from training exercises abroad it has never been deployed overseas or tested in combat.