The Type 74 is a Japanese main battle tank developed in the 1970s. It was the first domestically produced tank to be mass-produced in Japan. It was designed to replace the aging Type 61 tank and was intended to be the main battle tank of the Japanese Self-Defense
The Type 74 was a main battle tank (MBT) of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF). It was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as a supplement to the earlier Type 61. It was based on the best features of a number of contemporary designs, placing it in the same class as the US M60 Patton or German Leopard 1. Like these designs, it mounted the L7 rifled 105 mm gun. The design did not enter widespread use until 1980, by which point other Western forces had introduced more capable designs.