TYPE 90 JAPANESE MILITARY INDUSTRY

TYPE 90 MBT

The third-place finisher is a surprise, coming from a nation never known for its tank technology. The Japanese Type 90 MBT, built by Mitsubishi, visually resembles the Leopard 2, uses the 120mm gun originally developed by Rheinmetall, and adds an automatic loader, permitting a three-man crew. Neither the government or the contractor have put out much information on the Type 90, making it a sort of “mystery tank,” but the Type 90 is, according to the report, “thoroughly modern and sophisticated, even more advanced in some of the areas of fire control and vehicle electronics than the highly publicized (French) Leclerc, Leopard 2A5, and M1A2.

TYPE 90 MBT

TYPE 90 TANK

“It is the fire control suite and advanced vehicle electronics that really make the Type 90 a world-class tank. The well known Japanese prowess in electronics has been exploited to the fullest extent in  the Type 90 MBT. While some details remain clouded in secrecy, the fire control suite has an automatic target tracking capability and it has long been rumored that some sort of target recognition/queuing and/or threat prioritization capability is incorporated in the suite.”

TYPE 90 MBT JAPANESE MILITARY INDUSTRY

TYPE 90 MBT

The Type 90 is powered by a 1,500 hp Mitsubishi diesel that provides a power to weight ratio similar to other worldclass tanks. At 50 tons, the Type 90 is less heavily armored than designs intended for combat in Western Europe and the crew compartment is thought to be cramped. “All these things considered, the Type
90 is one of the top operational tanks in the world today,” the report concludes.