Comparing: Type 2597 Chi-Ha vs. BT-7 artillery

Developed by Mitsubishi from 1935 through 1937. The vehicle was mass-produced from 1938 through 1942, alongside an upgraded Shinhoto Chi-Ha for the last two years, with a total of 1,220 vehicles of both types manufactured. The Chi-Ha and Shinhoto Chi-Ha tanks were widely used by Japanese forces in China, and after Japan capitulation, these vehicles were used by both the PLA and Kuomintang forces in the Civil War of 1946.

In 1934–1935 the design bureau of the Kharkiv Locomotive Factory developed this artillery modification of the BT-7. The new elliptical turret was equipped with the 76.2-mm CT-28 gun. In addition, some vehicles received new radio stations. A total of 155 artillery BT-7s were manufactured. The vehicles saw combat on the Karelian Isthmus, in Manchuria, and during the first period of the Great Patriotic War.