page_title: Tanks in the Japanese Army
section_title: Post World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Tanks in the Japanese Army / Post World War II
context_section_description: After World War II, Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (A.K.A. GHQ in Japan) ceased all military manufacturing and development plants in Japan, making the country lose the technology to build and manufacture tanks and armoured vehicles. Then due to the Korean War, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers ordered Japan to re-militarize, forming armed police forces (National police reserve, later called National security force, then finally Japan ground self-defence force) and provided M4A3E8 Sherman and M24 Chaffee tanks.
  The M24, though it was popular amongst the Japanese crews, was inadequate when facing Soviet T-34/85s, as seen in Korea. Thus, as the tanks in the Japan ground self-defence force (JGSDF) service at the time were obsolete/inadequate, the JGSDF was provided with the option of either purchasing the new American built M46 Patton and, later, the M47 Patton or develop their own MBT in 1954. Due to the high cost of purchasing American made tanks, and because the M47 did not meet their requirements, the JGSDF decided on developing their own main battle tank, resulting in the development of the Type 61 tank.
  The first prototype vehicles, STA-1 and STA-2 were built and tested by 1957. The results were used to develop the STA-3 and STA-4. More improvements were made in 1961 and the deployment of the Type 61 began. The initial production rate was low, with only ten tanks produced in 1962, increasing to twenty in 1964 and thirty in 1965 and 1966. A total of 250 had been produced by 1970, with production continuing at an increased pace until 1975 when it was terminated. A total of 560 were produced. The main gun of the Type 61 was unstabilized, so firing on the move was impractical, and the vehicle is not fitted with an NBC protection system or deep wading equipment. The JGSDF started studies on a new tank design with Mitsubishi in 1962, as it was realized that the Type 61 would not be able to defeat the latest Soviet designs like the T-62. The tanks were phased out of service in the 1990s with 400 in service in 1990, and 190 in service in 1995. All were decommissioned by 2000, 39 years after their original deployment. From 1980, Type 61's began to be supplemented by the more modern Type 74 MBT.
  The first prototype of the Type 74 MBT, designated STB-1, was delivered in late 1968 and underwent a number of modifications until the final prototype designated STB-6 was delivered in 1973. Production finally started as the Type 74 in September 1975, with 225 being delivered by January 1980. Production ended in 1989, with total production running to 893 examples. The gunner's position included a digital fire control computer, fed range data from the commander's range finder. Rounds for the main gun were upgraded from HEP to APFSDS and HEAT-MP.
  After the adoption of the Type 74, the Japanese High Command was already looking for a superior, completely indigenous tank design to defeat the Soviet T-72. As a result, development of a prototype as a replacement for the Type 74, the TK-X MBT began between 1976 and 1977, which became the Type 90 tank. 
  The Type 90 was to have replaced the Type 74 outright as the Type 74 was generally outdated even before it entered service, but with the ending of the Cold War these plans were scaled back. Requirements of the Type 90 were completed in 1980 with two prototypes and a second series of four prototypes were built between 1986 and 1988 that incorporated changes as a result of trials with the first two prototypes. These were armed with the Rheinmetall 120 mm smoothbore gun also fitted to the German Leopard 2 and, in a modified version, in the US M1A1/M1A2 Abrams MBT.
  These second prototypes were used for development and then user trials, all of which were completed by 1989, before Japan formally acknowledged the Type 90 in 1990. With the exception of the 120 mm smooth-bore gun, which is made under license from Rheinmetall of Germany, the Type 90 and its subsystems were all designed and built in Japan. It has been complemented by the Type 10, which first entered service in January 2012. 
caption: Type 61 tanks on the move at Camp Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture as part of a joint US/Japanese exercise
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