Mitsubishi Type 60

     Notes:  Sometimes referred to as the SU-60, this Japanese vehicle was one of their first post-World War 2 APC designs, taken into service in 1960, and it served the JGSDF for over 40 years.  By that time it was retired, it was very old technology and very expensive to keep in running order. The SU-60 was built until 1972, with 755 being built in this time.  Some time before the SU-60 was retired, it had already been relegated to reserve and home guard service.  Armor is relatively thin, but the design is unusual – it looks sort of like a refrigerator on treads, with a barely-sloped front and square sides and back. Medium and heavy mortar carrier variants exist, and will be found in Japanese Self-Propelled Artillery.

     The driver of the Type 60 is on the front right hull, and has three vision blocks to his front.  In an unusual design feature, a bow machinegunner sits to his left; he has his own hatch on the left front deck and an integral sighting scope for the machinegun.  Between and behind them is the commander’s position; he has a cupola with all-around vision blocks and a pintle-mounted weapon.  The commander also has a gun shield to the front with an AV of 2.  The relatively small troop compartment at the rear is accessed by two large hatches in the rear face, and the rear deck has a large 2-piece hatch opening to the left and right for standing troops.  The two parts of these hatch covers are further hinged in the center, allowing standing troops to use them for cover. Power is provided by a Mitsubishi 8 HA 21 WT turbocharged diesel developing 230 horsepower, coupled to a manual transmission.  The hull is of all-welded steel.  Suspension consists of conventional torsion bars, with three out of the five roadwheels on each side having shock absorbers.  The Type 60 is not amphibious.

Price

Fuel Type

Load

Veh Wt

Crew

Mnt

Night Vision

Radiological

$24,898

D, A

1.5 tons

11.8 tons

3+6

6

Headlights

Enclosed

 

Tr Mov

Com Mov

Fuel Cap

Fuel Cons

Config

Susp

Armor

145/102

36/23

370

120

Stnd

T2

HF5  HS3  HR3

 

Fire Control

Stabilization

Armament

Ammunition

None

None

Type 62 (Bow), M-2HB (C)

2200x7.62mm, 435x.50

 

Mitsubishi Type 73

     Notes:  The Type 73 is a standard sort of APC that resembles a squatter version of the US M-113 series; in essence, it is basically an updated form of the Type 60 and closely resembles that APC.  Design work began in 1967, and competing designs from Komatsu and Mitsubishi were tested all stages of the design process, with Mitsubishi finally winning out.  Production continued until the late 1980s, and since production of the Type 89 and Type 96 IFVs has not progressed as fast as originally planned, the Type 73 remains in service.  Some 337 Type 73s are still in service with the JGSDF, and will remain in the inventory for the indefinite future.  Several variants of the Type 73 are produced, including mortar carriers, an MRL, artillery ammunition carriers, tractors for towed artillery, and even a mobile weather station.

     The layout of the Type 73 closely follows that of the Type 60 -- the driver sits on the front right side, and to his left is a position for a bow machinegunner.  To the rear of this gunner is the engine; the Type 60 and Type 73 are unusual for military armored vehicles in that the engine is in roughly the center of the vehicle.  The commander’s position is in the same place as that of the Type 60.  All these positions have the same sort of vision arrangement, but the central driver’s vision block may be replaced with a night vision block. The commander’s weapon can be aimed and fired from under armor, with the hatch closed.  The passenger compartment hatch arrangement, both at the rear and on the deck, are the same as on the Type 60.  However, the Type 73 adds two firing ports high on each side, as well as one in the rear.  The Type 73 is larger than the Type 60 and carries more troops.  The Type 73’s armor is of aluminum instead of steel, and heavier than that of the Type 60.  The Type 73 also adds a cluster of three smoke grenade launchers on either side of the front of the vehicle.

     Power for the Type 73 is provided by a Mitsubishi 4ZF turbocharged diesel engine developing 300 horsepower, coupled to a semiautomatic transmission.  The Type 73 is considerably heavier than the Type 60, so the power increase is largely soaked up by the increase in weight.  The suspension, though beefed up, is basically the same as that of the Type 60.  The Type 73 adds amphibious capability, but a lot of preparation is necessary – a trim vane must be extended at the front, rubber skirts must be fitted to the sides (they tend to get torn up under normal use, and are not normally fitted), rubber floatation bags attached to each of the roadwheels (ten in all), and a bilge pump turned on.  This all takes nearly a half an hour, or ten minutes less if the side skirts are already attached.

     Type 73 CPV is a command post carrier variant of the Type 73, similar in form and function to the US M-577.  It has a raised hull to allow standing (or at least crouching) inside.  The Type 73 CPV has two long-range, two medium-range, and one short-range radio; one of the long-range radios is data-capable.  Other equipment includes a ruggedized laptop computer, map boards, office and plotting supplies (including a folding table and three folding chairs), and a hand-held thermal imager, image intensifier, and laser rangefinder.

Vehicle

Price

Fuel Type

Load

Veh Wt

Crew

Mnt

Night Vision

Radiological

Type 73

$43,582

D, A

2 tons

13.3 tons

3+9

8

Passive IR (D)

Shielded

Type 73 CPV

$206,892

D, A

1.15 tons

15 tons

3+5

10

Passive IR (D)

Shielded

 

Vehicle

Tr Mov

Com Mov

Fuel Cap

Fuel Cons

Config

Susp

Armor

Type 73

163/114

40/26/4

450

159

Stnd

T2

HF6  HS4  HR4

Type 73 CPV

145/101

36/23/4

450

178

Stnd

T2

HF6  HS4  HR4

 

Vehicle

Fire Control

Stabilization

Armament

Ammunition

Type 73/CPV

None

None

Type 62 (Bow), M-2HB (C)

2700x7.62mm, 525x.50

 

Mitsubishi Type 89

     Notes:  The Japanese began design of the Type 89 IFV in 1980, and the first prototypes began testing in 1984, with the testing period continuing until 1986.  However, the need for such a vehicle and the cost have been cited as reasons not to produce the Type 89 from the beginning, and it was not type-classified until 1989.  The initial requirement for the Type 89 was stated at 300 vehicles, but as of 1999, only 58 had been built, and since then, only 1-3 have been built per year, and the Japanese have less than 80 in service currently.  (This had led to large amounts of the Type 73 APC being retained in service.)  The numbers of the Type 89 in service will probably never reach the 300 initially requested by the JGDSF.

     The Type 89 is of a design that is now common – a welded steel hull, with a highly-sloped glacis plate and moderately-sloped sides, with armored track skirts.  The driver is on the right front, with the engine to his right.  The driver has three vision blocks to the front, one of which can be replaced with a night vision block; he also has an unusual feature – a periscope in the hatch cover which can be rotated by hand. The passengers are mostly in the rear, but one is just to the rear of the driver, with a hatch of his own and vision blocks that allow him to see to the front of the vehicle.  He also has a firing port that allows him to fire his weapon to the right side of the vehicle.  The remaining six troops are in the rear and ingress and egress for them (and the soldier behind the driver) are through two large doors in the rear face. Two more firing ports are on the right side, three are in the left side, and one is in the right rear door.  There is a medium-sized hatch in the troop compartment’s roof, used primarily for reloading of the ATGM launchers.  The troops have an NBC overpressure system with a collective NBC backup.

     The turret is in the center of the vehicle, offset to the left.  The commander is on the right side of the turret, with a cupola that has all-around vision blocks and night vision scopes, as well as a day telescopic scope.  The gunner, on the left, has a hatch with two vision blocks that cover the front and left of the turret.  The gunner has excellent night vision equipment, and his gunnery is helped by a ballistic computer and laser rangefinder, as well as full stabilization.  The main gun in most Type 89s is an Oerlikon KDE autocannon, but late-production vehicles have a license-built version of that weapon, the L-90.  A coaxial machinegun is provided and on each side of the turret is a launcher for a Type 89 Jyu-MAT ATGM.  Under the front of each missile launcher is a cluster of three smoke grenade launchers.

     The Type 89 has a 600-horsepower 6 SY 31 WA turbocharged diesel engine that gives the vehicle excellent range and agility, but not good range.  The transmission is fully automatic and the driver’s position has a conventional steering yoke, gas pedal, and brake pedal. There are six roadwheels as well as three return rollers, and the suspension is by torsion bar with three shock absorbers on each side.

Price

Fuel Type

Load

Veh Wt

Crew

Mnt

Night Vision

Radiological

$191,826

D, A

1.2 tons

27 tons

3+7

12

Passive IR (D, G, C), Image Intensification (G, C), Thermal Imaging (G, C)

Shielded

 

Tr Mov

Com Mov

Fuel Cap

Fuel Cons

Config

Susp

Armor

141/101

35/23

620

306

Trtd

T4

TF13  TS6  TR4  HF24  HS12  HR6

 

Fire Control

Stabilization

Armament

Ammunition

+3

Good

35mm Oerlikon KDE, Type 74, 2xJyu-MAT ATGM Launchers

320x35mm, 3540x7.62mm, 6xJyu-MAT ATGM