The Type 94 tankette (Japanese: 九四式軽装甲車, romanized: Kyūyon-shiki keisōkōsha, literally "94 type light armored car"; also known as TK, an abbreviation of Tokushu Keninsha, literally "special tractor"[7]) was a tankette used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War, at Nomonhan against the Soviet Union, and in World War II.

Although tankettes were often used as ammunition tractors, and general infantry support, they were designed for reconnaissance, and not for direct combat.

[9] As with nearly all tankettes built in the 1920s and 1930s, they had thin armor that could be penetrated by .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine gun fire at 600 yards (550 m) range.

[10] From the 1920s, the Imperial Japanese Army tested a variety of European light tanks, including several Renault FTs, and a decision was reached in 1929 to proceed with the domestic development of a new vehicle based largely on the Carden-Loyd Mk VI tankette design to address the deficiencies of wheeled armored cars.

[7] The IJA ordered six samples from the UK, along with some French Renault UE Chenillette vehicles and field tested them.

[7] The IJA determined that the British and French machines were too small to be practical, and started planning for a larger version, the Tokushu Keninsha (TK, meaning "Special Tractor").

The wheeled armored cars were not suitable for most operations in the puppet state of Manchukuo, due to the poor road conditions and severe winter climate.

Like many Japanese armored vehicles intended to operate in hot conditions, the engine was given asbestos insulation to protect the occupants from its heat.

With the start of World War II, a number of Type 94s were issued to each Japanese infantry division in the Pacific theatre, with a tracked trailer.

They saw action in Burma, the Netherlands East Indies,[23] the Philippines and on a number of islands in the South Seas Mandate.

A detachment of eight Type 94 tankettes forming the 56th Infantry Group Tankette Unit (Also named the Anai tankette unit, after the name of their captain), part of the "Sakaguchi Detachment", had a notable role in the Japanese conquest of Java, engaging a large enemy element on 2 March and routing them, capturing a bridge on the same night, and at dawn overrunning a position of 600 enemy soldiers on the opposite bank, and participating in offensive operations that led to the surrender of Dutch forces over the next few days near Surakarta.