Type 11 light machine gun

The Type 11 light machine gun (十一年式軽機関銃, Jyūichinen-shiki Kei-kikanjū) is a light machine gun used by the Imperial Japanese Army in the interwar period and during World War II. Adopted as the Imperial Japanese Army's first light machine gun, the Type 11 was designed by Kijirō Nambu and had certain similarities to the Hotchkiss series of machine guns. It had an unusual feed system which required five round clips to be dropped into a hopper, this held up to a total of six clips (30 rounds) and each round was oiled as it was fed into the chamber. Despite good overall performance, this feed system was prone to collect dirt and grit which would jam the weapon while in use. It was issued to troops in 1922 and saw extensive service as a squad weapon until 1945.