High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Type 97 Chi-Ha (??????, Kyunana-shiki chu-sensha?) was a medium tank used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Second World War. It was the most widely produced Japanese medium tank of the period, but with thin armor, relatively small main armament and underpowered engine, it was less effective than most Allied tank designs. Its low silhouette, semicircular radio aerial on the turret roof, asymmetric turret, complicated body front, and seesaw-type suspension system combined to give the tank a unique appearance that distinguished it from other contemporary Japanese tanks. The Type 97 was a development of the Type 95 light tank and reflects the process of modernization of Japanese tank warfare prior to World War II.