Thursday, April 26, 2012

Type 87 Self propelled Anti Aircraft Gun

The type 87 is basically Japan's version of the Gepard anti-aircraft gun from Germany. It sports two 35mm rapid fire cannons.  Now if that isn't awesome I don't know what is.
How come we American's don't have something this cool? I know its meant for anti-aircraft duty...but come on! That would rock as an infantry support vehicle!  If that thing were rumbling down the street, you could bet that I'd be keeping my head down.
These awesome things are made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.  The same guys that have made Japanese military equipment since WWII.  Japan Steel Works made the cannons though. (You guys hiring?)
Unfortuantely Japan keeps a lot of its military stuff classified, even their battle rifles. So, truth be told, I couldn't find out much about this guy, so I'll have to compare it to the German Gepard or "Flakpanzer" as its sometimes called.  Gee, I wonder what "Flakpanzer" means?

The Type 87 is a bit smaller and lighter than a Gepard but it's also slower and has less operational distance.   That's not really a concern for the Japanese because they're not about to invade anyone and Godzilla usually comes to them.
There is one more cool thing to say about the Type 87, the Japanese have nicknamed it "Guntank" which is an awesome name on its own, but it's a giant robot from the Gundam anime series.  See the family resemblance?

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