Editing Imperial Japanese Equipment (section)

=== Halftracks and armored cars ===
Much like the rest of the powers involved in the second world war, the Imperial Japanese Army did have a pool of halftracks and armored cars. Uniquely among most powers, most of the Japanese armored cars had a rather unique feature; they could be deployed on both roadways and rail lines. This is similar to modern railway utility trucks, except they arent armored or armed.

The Imperial Japanese Army, while stereotyped for having terrible equipment, did at least have some innovation through their armored cars in that the wheels that allowed them to be used on railways could be switched to different rail gauges and did develop one of the first ancestors to modern fully tracked armored personnel carriers. 

A major fail was that the IJA did not prioritize infantry transports as much as other more mechanized militaries did and as a result they where outclassed by allied forces and superior designs.  

Some of the more famous examples of armored cars and half tracks most of which were based on 1920s interwar British designs. 

*'''Chiyoda armoured car/ Type 2592:''' Offically the first domestically made armored car that was produced for both the IJA and the IJN, was armed with 3 Type 11 6.5mm machine guns. Only truly notable feature is it was a six wheeled design, a distinction that was shared with the American M8 and Soviet BA series of armored cars.

*'''Sumida M.2593:''' Made a year after the Chiyoda, this was the first armored car in the IJA and IJN, that could be used on both roadways and railways. The crew could change between the two in little less than half an hour, and the wheels for rail use could even be adjusted for different railway gauges. Another unique feature to this armored car was while it was used on railways it could be linked with others to form a type of rolling stock. They could be armed with either a 6.5mm machine gun or a 7.7mm machine gun with gun slits cut into the armor for its crew to use infantry weapons. Unique, but irrelevant when the Allies started deploying Greyhounds and Daimlers. 

*'''Type 1 Ho-Ha:''' One of the only true halftracks produced for use by the IJA, developed in 1941, but did not reach production until 1944, it was partially based on the Germans Sd.Kfz. 251 with some American M3 influence as well. It carried 3 type 97 machine gun in constricted fire arcs leaving it exposed to attacks from the direct front and direct rear. 

*'''Type 1 Ho-Ki:''' An honest ancestor of the fully tracked APC, and an example of too little too late for the imperial japanese military. Developed in 1941 but only began mass production in 1944, it was made originally as a heavily armored artillery tractor that was adapted to carry up to 13 infantry. It was unarmed but provisions were made to mount a type 92 infantry machine gun.