- Yes
- No
Historical Background
M48 Main Battle Tank has been Turkish Armed Forces’ backbone for over three decades, and saw extensive service. In its long service life Turkish M48 Main Battle Tanks seen several different modernisations programs to improve their overall mission effectiveness as well as extend its service life. Those modernisation efforts played major role in Turkey’s process of acquiring know-how of tank modernisation since those programs were quite extensive. M48T5 is the product of earliest modernisation effort of Turkey, modernisation was carried out between 1982 and 1984 by Land Forces Command’s 1st Main Maintenance Center Command in Sakarya, Arifiye with the assistance of West Germany, total of 183 M48A1 Main Battle Tanks were modernised. M48T5 aw limited service in Turkish Armed Forces and later converted into ARVs and AEVs.
Authenticity of M48T5 Modernisation Project
Information regarding M48T5 is quite scarce yet the sources mentioning M45T5 are primary sources, such as ASFAT and MKE catalogues, so verifying existence of such tanks and related modernisation program is not that difficult. That being said, amount of sources and images are still very few.
First primary source is provided by ASFAT, Askeri Fabrika ve Tersane İşletme a Turkish state-owned defense contractor, managing Turkish Armed Forces’ factories and shipyards. In ASFAT’s 2020 Products and Capabilities document’s 1st Main Maintenance Factory Directorate section under “Modernisation of Tanks” part there is mention of three M48 Main Battle Tanks modernisation carried out by 1st Main Maintenance Factory Directorate; M48T5 (1982 - 1984), M48A5T1 (1984 - 1987) and M48A5T2 (1987 - 1990).
Relevant Page from ASFAT’s 2020 Products and Capabilities
Second primary source is provided by MKE, Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi, Turkish state-owned defense contractor, producing wide range of products from small arms to tank cannons. In MKE’s Product Catalogue there is another mention of M48T5 in “105mm Tank Guns & Howitzer Ammunition” section. Per mentioned by documents MKE MOD 233 High Explosive rounds can be fired from M48T5 tank with L7A3 cannon.
Relevant Page from MKE’s Product Catalogue
Scope of Modernisation
Thankfully, I was able to find this section from still unidentified book/magazine/article written by Metin Okçu. There are several works of him related tanks and defense sector, I’m still trying to find which work is the source of this excerpt. According to the book, modernisation package includes following upgrades:
- L7A3 105mm L/52 Rifled Gun
- PZB 200 Night Vision
- MTU MB-837 Ea-500 Diesel Engine (Source provided by @DMYEugen, From Patton: A History of the American Main Battle Tank)
Unspecified 750 Horsepower Diesel Engine (Most Probably MTU 871 Diesel Engine) - Modified CD-850-4 Transmission (Source provided by @DMYEugen, From Patton: A History of the American Main Battle Tank)
Also Following Systems Mentioned In Secondary Sources (I Do Not Have Primary Source to Support Those Claims)
- Ml7BlC Rangefinder
- M13A4 Ballistic Computer
- Ballistic Propulsion System
- M25/M28 Tank Commander Periscope
General Specifications
Firepower
M48T5 boasts reliable L7A3 105mm L/52 rifled tank cannon as its main armament which offers superior firepower over original M41/T139 90mm L/53 tank cannon. L7A3 is capable of firing all NATO-standard 105mm ammunition. As secondary armament M48T5 has Co-Axial 7.62mm machine-gun and cupola mounted 12.7mm machine-gun. Due to increased shell size, there would be lesser ammunition available to main gun though there is no information regarding number of shells. M48T5 were also fitted with PZB 200 Night Vision device.
Mobility
M48T5 is equipped with 750 Horsepower MB-837 Ea-500 Diesel Engine, replacing 810 Horsepower Continental AV1790 Gasoline Engine. M48T5 kept original CD-850-4 transmission but tweaked to coupled with MB-837. With new powerpack, M48T5 will have approximate 15,69 hp/t with top speed of 48 km/h.
Source provided by @DMYEugen, From Patton: A History of the American Main Battle Tank
Protection
Protection of M48T5 is pretty much the same as base model M48A1 as there was no attempts to enhance its protection in anyway.
Specifications
- Crew: 4
∙ Commander
∙ Gunner
∙ Loader
∙ Driver - Dimensions and Weight
- Mass: 47.8 Tons
- Length: 9.40m
- Width: 3.8m
- Height: 3.4m
- Armament
- Main Armament: Royal Ordnance L7A3 105mm L/52
- Secondary Armament
• Co-Axial MG3? 7.62mm Machine-Gun
• Cupola Mounted M2? 12.7mm Heavy Machine-Gun - Ammunition Capacity
∙ 50 Tank Round
∙ 450 12.7mm Machine-Gun Rounds
∙ 3700 7.62mm Co-Axial Machine-Gun
- Mobility
- Engine: MTU MB-837 Ea-500 Diesel Engine, 750 Horsepower
- Transmission: Modified Allison CD-850-4, 3-Speed, 2 Forward, 1 Reverse
- Suspension: Torsion Bar
- Maximum Speed: 48 km/h
- Power to Weight: 15,69 hp/t
- Protection
∙ Rolled Homogeneous Armor
∙ Cast Homogeneous Armor- Active/Passive Protection System: None
- Smoke Grenades: 8x
- Accessories
- Night Sight
∙ Gunner
∙ Commander - Optical range finder
- Commander’s Override?
- Night Sight
Implementation to War Thunder
Potentially M48T5 could end up in three different trees: Germany, thanks to modernisation package; USA, M48 being originally US made; or future Turkish Tech Tree. Considering neither Germany nor US really in need of such tank, M48T5 should be reserved for future Turkish Ground Forces Tech Tree. In terms of play style M48T5 would be quite similar M48A2GA2, so it would fit 8.0-8.3 Battle Rating range at Rank V in research tree.
Additional Photos
Spoiler
Sources
Spoiler
https://web.archive.org/web/20210723001848/https://asfat.com.tr/docs/asfat2020.pdf - ASFAT 2020
https://web.archive.org/web/20241204010011/https://mke.gov.tr/Content/D_Dosya/ckResim/Programlar/ingilizce.pdf - MKE Catalogue
KitMaker Network :: Türk Kara Kuvvetleri M48T5
https://www.trmilitary.org/viewtopic.php?t=1516&start=50 - Additional System Included in Modernisation Program
Patton: A History of the American Main Battle Tank by R.P. Hunnicutt