The development of the vehicle began in 1981 with the construction of 1 prototype of the hull and another of the turret, but it was in 1984 when the program was promoted by allocating 600 million yen for the manufacture of 4 complete prototypes. Testing of these 4 vehicles lasted until 1986, when the vehicle was accepted by the JGSDF and series production began.The initial order was for 300 vehicles, but it is believed that there are currently only sixty-eight Type 89 IFVs in service. There are 52 other vehicles pending delivery, belonging to the 1989 order. The reason for such a slow and discontinuous delivery is unknown, because this vehicle entered service in 1991, but since 1998 no new vehicles have been delivered. However, its very high price, of about 700 million yen per unit, is probably the main reason for the slow delivery.The vehicle’s layout is conventional, although with some peculiarities. The front of the vehicle is occupied by the engine, located on the left, and the driver located on the right. Right behind the driver there is room for an occupant, who has a spherical firing port and two vision periscopes.The central area of the vehicle is occupied by the two-man turret, which houses the commander and the gunner. Both crew members have a periscope sight at the front of the turret and several fixed vision periscopes that allow them to observe 360º. The turret is powered traversed and has a laser warning device, commonly used in most Japanese armoured vehicles. It also has a manual traverse system for emergency cases.The rear of the vehicle is occupied entirely by the troops compartment, which has space for six soldiers. Troops enter and exit the vehicle through two doors located at the rear. Each soldier has a roof mounted periscope sight and a spherical firing port that allows them to fire from the inside. Also on the roof of this compartment there are two periscopes to observe the rear. Another firing port is mounted on the right exit door to cover the rear of the vehicle. All firing ports are rotatable, being protected and free of dirt as long as their use is not necessary.The running gear is made up of six dual rubber-tyred roadwheels and three track return rollers, with the idler at the rear and the drive sprocket at the front. The upper part is protected by armoured skirts. The suspension is made up of torsion bars and the vehicle is not amphibious but it can cross waterways 1 meter deep. This vehicle has an NBC overpressure protection system.The vehicle mounts a 600 hp Mitsubishi 6 SY 31 WA diesel engine that allows a top speed of 70 km/h, being able to go backwards at 42 km/h. The transmission is automatic and the range is about 400 km. The Type 89 IFV can overcome vertical obstacles of 80 cm, cross trenches up to 2.40 meters wide and overcome gradients of 60%.The Type 89 IFV has an armament consisting of a 35mm Oerlikon Contraves KD-series gun, a Type 74 7.62 millimeter caliber coaxial machine gun and two Kawasaki Type 79 Jyu-MAT medium range wire-guided anti-tank missile, one on each side of the turret. In addition, the vehicle has 8 electrically operated smoke grenade dischargers, 4 on each side.The 35mm barrel is manufactured under license in Japan by Nippon Steel and has a rate of fire of 200 rounds per minute. Among its ammunition, the armour-piercing one stands out, capable of penetrating 40mm of armour at 1,000 meters away. The Kawasaki Type 79 Jyu-MAT missile has a range of 4 km and carries a 4.2 kg anti-tank shaped charge warhead. Once the missiles have been launched, they are manually reloaded. Type 89 IFV is the first of its kind used by the JGSDF. It is a vehicle built with steel plates that protects its occupants from small arms fire and artillery shell splinters. It is speculated that the armour could be of a composite type, but this fact has not been confirmed. The nearly 70 vehicles in service are attached to the Hokkaido 7th Division, the 11th Division and the Fuji Weapons School.
