Further Development
The last design that based directly on Type 97 lineage was the Type 3 Chi-Nu medium tank with a 75 mm main gun of which 144 were built from 1944 to 1945. The Type 4 Chi-To was a separate design, the last Japanese medium tank design to be completed during the war, considered equivalent to the German Panther tank, with only two vehicles made by war's end. By the time, the Japanese industry had been badly crippled by the American bombing campaign; as a result, few of these newer vehicles were ever built.
The IJA's need to supplement their tank divisions with artillery led to a need for self-propelled guns (SPGs), subsequently, the Type 97's chassis were utilized to manufacture nearly a hundred SPGs, consisting primarily of 75 mm guns. Since the IJA's 1930's era tanks didn't have the firepower to penetrate the 1940s generation of allied armor, a need for tank destroyers arose; and experiments ranging from 47 mm to 120 mm guns were conducted. However, due to naval priorities, raw materials for any IJA's production were limited.
Read more about this topic: Type 97 Chi-Ha
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