The deployment of USMC Grizzly medium walkers to the Pacific posed a serious tactical problem for the Japanese. Developing a similar medium walker to counter it entirely from scratch would be too time-consuming. Again, the Imperial leadership turned to their (then) Axis allies who offered to export a limited number of the Pz.Kpfg. VII Heuschrecke stripped of its gravitic jump assist modules. On inspection of the first units to arrive in Japan the Imperial military discovered that the missing weight of the modules actually benefited the walker’s speed and agility, making it ideal for both general combat and reconnaissance duties. Recently, Japanese reverse-engineering of Axis-supplied components has allowed a fully Imperial-built version of the Locust, the ‘Inago’, to be produced in the Home islands.
