Specification Crew : 2 Engine Power : 48 hp Combat weight : 4,260 kg (9,393 lb) Max speed : road . 45 km/h (27.95 mph) Range : 160 km (99.36 miles) Length : 3.66 m (12.00 ft) Width : 1.93 m (6.33 ft) Height : 1.80 m (5.91 ft) Main gun 37 mm (1.46 in) gun Armour : 4mm (0.16 in) to 16mm (0.63 in)

The Tankette Type 97 or Te-Ke , was the follow-on to the Type 94.Larger and with a more powerful diesel engine , it had a 37mm gun in place of the machine gun - however many Type 97s still retained the machine gun due to a shortage of guns.Even with these changes the Type 97 was obsolete by the time the first of them were in service.The hull was still so small that there was no space for further crew members , so the commander still had to load and fire the turret gun.But in a gesture towards crew comfort the interior was lined with the heat-absorbing asbestos sheets.The suspension complete with the large trailing wheel , was carried over from the late model Type 94.Armoured protection was still too thin to be proof against small arms fire and the overall approach remained simple to the point of crudity. In combat the Type 97 fared little better then the Type 94.However since there was little else to hand the Type 97 soldiered on throughout the early war years , distributed in ones and twos in support of infantry operations but more often used as a forward area supply tractor towing tracked trailers.A few Type 97s were appropriated as artillery observation vehicles.Most had been withdrawn by 1943 or were dug in as pillboxes on Pacific islands.