ROK Army M48A3K Patton MBT

The M48 Patton was one of the U.S army’s principal main battle tanks of the Cold War, with models in service from the early 1950s on through the 1990s. The M48 was the U.S. Army and Marine Corps primary tank during the Vietnam War. It was widely used by U.S. Cold War allies, especially other NATO countries. The tank belongs to the Patton family of tanks, named after General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. Third Army during World War II and one of the earliest American advocates for the use of tanks in battle. It was a further development of the M47 Patton tank.

The M48 Patton tank was designed to replace the previous M47 Pattons and M4 Shermans. Although largely resembling the M47, the M48 Patton was a completely new tank design despite a rough similarity from a distance. Some M48A5 models served well into the 80s. Internationally, many various M48 Patton models remain in service. The M48 was the last American tank to mount the 90mm tank gun, and in fact later models were upgraded to carry the new standard weapon of 105mm.

M48A3K shifts the gasoline engine previously with the diesel engine, the muzzle brake was fitted ‘T’ form brake, added 3 support wheel and the fitted tank commander periscope on Turret, and M48A3K in M48A3 additionally to improve a smoke grenade launcher affix and a fire control system from Republic of Korea