Modern/Post-War Photos

Rest Easy oh Cold Warrior

DGN©

An M48A5 Monument Display at American Legion Post 1778 in central NY. I took this photo the other day the verify whether this was either the 90mm armed A3 variant or the final A5 model featuring the M68/L7 105mm gun. It was probably retired from the Army National Guard sometime in the 1990's where it was used as a training tank for Guardsmen that would likely receive M1A1's upon activation. The A5 was the final US development of the M48, making it essentially equivalent to an early M60 tank. US tank development tended to be evolutionary until the M1 came online. The M48A5 and the M60A3 can both trace their lineage back to the M26 Pershing with related hull layouts. The M48A5 was the culmination of the M48 model with a series of upgrades conducted in the mid-to-late 1970's where Pattons were improved. The next generation replacement M1-series was running several years later than anticipated due to the Vietnam war and costly missteps such as the failed MBT-70 project, so the M48’s were upgraded to the A5 standard and the M60 to its A3 standard to keep them competitive against newer Soviet T-72s. The M48A5’s had been in service since the 1950s and was showing its age and despite many upgrades like the 750-hp Continental diesel engine (tripling its combat range to over 300 miles), fire control system, and of course the improved gun. It was long-in-the-tooth by the mid-1980’s and was placed in a reserve/training role and finally mothballed in 1996.