- tank 1
- driver 2
- no
- 37mm cannon
- flame thrower
- machine gun
In the fall of 1943, the Imperial Japanese Army’s Teishin Shudan formed the 1st Glider Tank Troop. Before the 1st Glider Troop was established, the only heavy support available to Japan’s airborne infantry was provided by the Kokusai Ku-8. This military glider was able to transport the Type 94 and Type 94 75 mm mountain guns, but these infantry support guns lacked the mobility and anti-tank capabilities required by Japan’s paratroopers. The solution to this problem was to develop a glider-portable light tank, but the existing Ku-8 glider was not capable of supporting the weight of a vehicle as large as a tank. So in 1943 and into 1944 the Armoured Army Headquarters (army aviation headquarters) and the Fourth Army Institute of Technology collaborated on a new concept to fill this role, a flying tank. A small tank that could be towed on a glider by a powered aircraft and then released and glide down to the battlefield along with paratroopers. The tank would detach its wings after landing[1] and then be able to provide armour support to the infantry. Rather than using an existing tank or glider design, it was decided that a new tank and new glider should be developed. Work on developing the glider (wing and empennage) was given to Maeda Iron Works Company (Maeda Kōken Kōgyō), while designing and building of the prototype tank was given to Mitsubishi.
Mitsubishi based the tank on their Type 98 Ke-Ni light tank. The weight was reduced to 2.9 tons from 7.2 tons and the crew was brought down from 3 to 2. A single mockup of a prototype tank was built and named the “Special number 3 light tank Ku-Ro”.[1] The commander sat in the turret and acted as both gunner and loader. The driver’s position was located in the chassis. The turret was rear-mounted and housed the tank’s only weapon, a Type 100 37 mm tank gun, the same used by the Ke-Ni. There was no coaxial or hull mounted machine gun. There were plans to mount either a flamethrower or 7.7 mm Type 97 machine gun in place of the tank’s 37 mm gun.
| Mass | 2.9 t (2.9 long tons; 3.2 short tons) for the tank, with wings added 4.2 t (4.1 long tons; 4.6 short tons)[1] |
|---|---|
| Length | 4.07 m (13 ft 4 in)[1] |
| Width | 1.44 m (4 ft 9 in)[1] |
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)[1] |
| Crew | 2[1] |
| — | |
| Main | |
| armament | One Type 100 37 mm tank gun or one 7.7 mm Type 97 machine gun or one flamethrower[1] |
| Secondary | |
| armament | None |
| Engine | Mitsubishi Franklin air-cooled inline 4-cylinder gasoline[1] |
| 50 hp (37.28 kW) at 2400 rpm[1] | |
| Suspension | bellcrank |
| Maximum speed | 43 km/h (27 mph) on road[1] |
| Winged tank - Wikipedia |