The first machine gun is a recoil-operated, licensed copy of the Vickers Class E machine gun re-chambered to 7.7x58mmSR Type 89 cartridge,[2] it is referred to as the "fixed type". It was used in synchronized applications in fighter cowls and in wing gun applications. It was belt-fed, using a steel link disintegrating belt. The fixed Type 89 was used in the Nakajima Ki-27, Ki-43, early Ki-44 fighters, the Mitsubishi Ki-30 and Ki-51light bombers, the Kawasaki Ki-32 light bomber and various others. Communist forces used some ex-Japanese Type 89s during the Korean War.[3] Indonesian Republican forces also used them for ground use during the Indonesian National Revolution.[4]
2x quadrant-shaped 45-round pan magazines each 69 rounds pan (Te-4 Machine gun)
Sights
anti-aircraft
Type 89 "modified single" (Te-4 Machine Gun)
The second machine gun is gas-operated, it consists of two modified Type 11 machine guns paired into a single unit, similar to the German MG 81Z. It is commonly referred to as the "flexible type".[citation needed] It was derived from otsu-gou - an experimental machine gun (1922–1929) which was a Type 11 turned on its side and fed from a pan magazine.[2] The machine gun was chambered in the 7.7x58mmSR Type 89 cartridge, it used a Y-shaped metallic stock, spade grips, the barrels had no cooling fins (contrary to Type 11), it was fed from two quadrant-shaped 45-round pan magazines (each magazine has a place for nine 5-round stripper clips).[5]
The machine gun was used as a rear gun on aircraft and some were pressed into ground and anti-aircraft use.[citation needed] Single or doubled Type 89s were used in most Imperial Japanese Army aircraft that had flexible defensive weapons, including the Mitsubishi Ki-21, Ki-67 and Nakajima Ki-49 heavy bombers, the Mitsubishi Ki-30, Ki-51 and Kawasaki Ki-32 light bombers, the Tachikawa Ki-9 (for training purposes only), and various other aircraft in the Army Air Force inventory.
Additionally, there was also the Te-4 machine gun (the Te designation was given to firearms under 11mm, and Ho to larger weapons such as the 12.7mmHo-103heavy machine gun and 20mmHo-5autocannon), the machine gun bore a strong resemblance to otsu-gou (of which the Type 89 "flexible" was a derivative),[2] due to that fact it was assumed to be a further modification of the double-barrelled machine gun, as such it was referred to as Type 89 "modified single".
^Lohnstein, Marc (2023). The Dutch–Indonesian War 1945–49: Armies of the Indonesian War of Independence. Osprey Publishing Ltd. p. 44. ISBN978-1472-8547-42.
