Could Japan have built licence panzer III, IV and Stug?

173rd LRRP

David-Shiell said:
One of Japan's biggest headaches was the almost toxic rivalry between Army and Navy. The two services couldn't agree on anything.

Japanese armor was perfectly adequate in the early war years, but they became progressively less so as the war continued. Most of their early war opponents either didn't have any armor, or were were equipped with light models in keeping with their expected role of colonial policing.
In 1945, British / Indian forces in Burma were using M3 Grants, which were considered suicidally inadequate everywhere else.
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Either John Masters or Field Marshall Slim described the effectiveness of the M3 in Burma. High Explosive were used with 75 mm until infantry assault and the both cannon switched to solid shot to engage bunkers. The 37 mm was quite effective in penetrating bunkers and canister was used on exposed infantry
 
David-Shiell

David-Shiell

Against infantry and what armor the Japanese had, the Grants worked well. However, everywhere else (Western Europe & Eastern Front), the Grants were no longer considered adequate. A big part of this was due to their likely opposition in those theatres. As a result, many of the surviving M3s were either converted to ARVs and engineering vehicles, or sent to the Far East, where the opposition was still considered manageable. In fact, I think the Soviets used some BT series tanks when they invaded Manchuria in 1945, again, due to the fact that they had them and that those vehicles were grossly outclassed everywhere else.
 

Crowbar Six

Finbarr the Fair said:
Well, an aircraft engine won't be a diesel, which seems to be the Japanese requirement. And while Japan did have its own tanks, AFAIK they were lighter than the German ones, especially the later models. So I think it's a legitimate question.

And, as you say, how much of their scarce resources, labour and plant can they devote to building better AFVs.
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The Germans had diesel aircraft engines in WW2 mainly on the JU86 high altitude recon aircraft. They were very popular for use on airships especially pre-war as the fuel is not as flammable as avgas.
 
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