The was a light machine gun

Light machine gun

A light machine gun is a machine gun designed to be employed by an individual soldier, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. Light machine guns are often used as squad automatic weapons.-Characteristics:...

 used by the Imperial Japanese Army

Imperial Japanese Army

-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...

 in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

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The Type 96 Light Machine Gun

Type 96 Light Machine Gun

The was a light machine gun used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the interwar period and in World War II. - History and development :Combat experience in the Manchurian Incident of 1931 and subsequent actions in Manchuria and northern China reaffirmed the Japanese army of the utility of machine...

, an improvement over the previous Type 11 Light Machine Gun

Type 11 Light Machine Gun

The was a light machine gun used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the interwar period and during World War II.-History:Combat experience in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 had convinced the Japanese army of the utility of machine guns to provide covering fire for advancing infantry...

 was introduced into combat service in 1936, and quickly proved to be a versatile weapon to provide covering fire for advancing infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

. Both the Type 11 and Type 96 used the same 6.5x50mm Arisaka cartridge

Cartridge (firearms)

A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...

s as the Type 38 rifle

Type 38 rifle

The is a bolt-action rifle. For a time it was the standard rifle of the Japanese infantry. It was known also as the Type 38 Year Meiji Carbine in Japan. An earlier, similar weapon was the Type 30 Year Meiji Rifle, which was also used alongside it. Both of these weapons were also known as the...

 infantry rifle. The system had the advantage that any squad member could supply ammunition for the light machine gun; however, as the Japanese army was switching from the Type 38 rifle to the Type 99 Rifle

Type 99 Rifle

The was a bolt-action rifle of the Arisaka design used by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.-History:During the Second Sino-Japanese War in the 1930s, the Japanese soon found that the 8×57mm IS cartridge the Chinese used was superior to the 6.5×50mm cartridge of the Type 38 rifle,...

 which used a 7.7 mm cartridge, it was necessary to develop a new version of the Type 96 light machine gun that would also be able to use this larger caliber

Caliber

In guns including firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel in relation to the diameter of the projectile used in it....

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The Type 99 was basically the same design as the Type 96 light machine gun, and had a number of parts in common.