Tankette Type 94, Model 2594

The Tankette Type 94, Model 2594 was based on the British Carden-Loyd Mark VI universal carriers of which six were purchased by Japan in the late 1920s. As a result of trials with these vehicles the Japanese decided to develop a similar vehicle. After successful trials in Japan and China the vehicle was standardised as the Type 94 tankette (US sources refer to it as the Type 92). It entered service in 1934. The primary role of the Type 94 was to carry supplies in the battlefield area and also serve in the supplementary reconnaissance role for which it was totally unsuited as its body armour could not withstand ordinary rifle bullets. 

The hull of the tankette is of riveted construction with the engine at the left front and driver on the right and the small turret at the rear of the hull. A large door is provided in the rear of the hull so that stores can be loaded quickly. The vehicle was powered by a 35 hp air cooled petrol engine. It was operated by a crew of two, a driver and a crew commander/gunner, in cramped conditions, and was used by the Japanese to pull a tracked trailer carrying supplies to the battlefield or as a reconnaissance vehicle. The round turret contained a 6.5 mm Type 91 machine gun in a ball in a ball mount. The Type 94 was not built in very large numbers and was replaced by 1940 on the production line by the Type 97 tankette.