WAV(I) - Wheeled Armored Vehicle (Improved), will be the forerunner of a new class of infantry fighting vehicles that will replace the Type 96 Wheeled Armored Personnel Carrier in service with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) since 1996.

Built by Komatsu Limited, the prototype APC can carry 11 men: three crew members and eight dismounted infantrymen.

It will be fitted with a remote weapons station mounting either a Howa Type 96 automatic grenade launcher or a .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M-2HB machine gun. These are the same weapons mounted on the Type 96.

The prototype APC is 8.4 meters long, 2.5 meters wide, is 2.9 meters high and weighs about 20 tons.

Its engine is a 10.8 liter diesel engine capable of developing 500 horsepower (372.8 kilowatts), allowing the vehicle to attain a maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour on paved roads.

The rear compartment will be modular in nature, and mission modules can be fitted on the APC as required by the mission. In addition to the basic APC variant, a communications support vehicle and an engineering variant were shown on the video released by the government.

Trials with the prototype are expected to last until 2019. Production will follow.