M48 Super

Description

During the Cold War, West Germany acquired as many as 650 M48 Patton tanks from United States. As the years pass, the M48 slowly became outdated and needed constant upgrades to stay up to date with the latest advancements in tank technologies and the Soviet threat. One such upgrade was in the 1960s as the M48A2 C tanks were upgraded into M48A2 G A2 that had the 105 mm L7 cannon installed and also use the German MG3 machine gun. However, as Leopard tanks slowly became Germany's primary tank, the M48 needed one more chance to stay relevant or risk obsolescence. In the 1990s, the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann company started a private venture to modernize the M48A2 with a new engine, appliqué armour package, and updated fire control system as the "M48 Super". Although the venture aimed to export this upgrade services to other M48 users across the globe, this came right around the end of the Cold War as all European nations began downsizing their armies by selling their surplus tanks on the market, reducing the need to rely on the old M48 design and ending the venture.

Introduced in Update "Starfighters", the M48 Super enhances all aspect of the important M48 characteristics, firepower, armour, and mobility, for better gameplay. A new modern computers for better use of the gun, namely a laser rangefinder and a thermal vision that can enhance the gunner's ability to locate and hit their target with the more lethal APFSDS round available. A stronger engine provides better mobility compared to the earlier M48s. Finally, armour is enhanced by composite screens attached to the turret, which substantially improves the overall protection, but the hull is left untouched aside from a few steel screens. So for many players that are familiar with the M48, the M48 Super represent the gameplay supercharged to 11, and can give enemies expecting an old, antiquated target a nasty surprise.

General info

Survivability and armour

The mantlet caps at 480 mm against HEAT rounds and just 209 mm against APFSDS projectiles, nothing to brag about. You are resistant to autocannons and older HEAT rounds, but that's about it. Being based on the M48 Patton hull from the '60s, the hull is able to stop only autocannon fire and only from the front arc, as side shots will get through. Avoiding getting shot is vital to your survival. Sadly, blocky ineffective armour coupled with a tall profile makes this task difficult, if not impossible to achieve. Adopting hull down tactics is a must; on the bright side, your gun can depress to -9° and you can perform well in hilly terrain.

Armour type:

• Cast homogeneous armour (hull, turret)

Notes:

• Suspension wheel, tracks, and torsion bars are 20 mm thick.
• Belly armour is 38 mm thick in the front half and 25 mm in the rear half.

Mobility

The M48 Super's mobility is average at best. Do not expect to rush favourable positions as most of the light tanks and wheeled combat vehicles will be there first.

Modifications and economy

Your focus should be on firepower upgrades. After parts and FPE, go for the DM23 round, as most tanks at this rank have either composite armour, ERA or in the worst case scenario both, making your stock HEAT round very ineffective. After that focus on getting thermals, those help you tremendously with finding targets and it is impossible to fight at night without them. Lastly, go for DM33 and laser rangefinder. Those make you a potent sniper and level your fighting chance against most opponents.

Armaments

Main armament

The M48 Super mounts a late-generation fully stabilised L7 cannon, which is pretty standard at this rank. It also has access to standard ammunition selection, though one thing to note is that it has the option to equip lethal DM33 rounds, which are the third best NATO rounds available for 105 mm guns (after M800 and DM63).

Ammunition

• DM12; HEATFS - Your stock round. HEAT round does not lose penetration with distance travelled. Unlike sabots, it has one downside: given that it is a chemical round, its fuse is highly sensitive in regards to its practical application in battle. With the emergence of composite and reactive armour, it quickly becomes obsolete in the anti-tank role. Requires careful aiming to properly damage newer tanks, though it can hold its own while fighting older tanks, lighter vehicles and low flying helicopters.
• DM512; HESH - This round was always plagued by a plethora of problems. Low velocity, low penetration, inconsistent mechanics and sensitive fuse make this round gimmicky at best. That being said, with the overpressure mechanic, this round can be used in CQB against light vehicles with devastating effect.
• DM23; APFSDS - Available as a tier I modification, this round allows you to engage modern tanks more reliably, since it performs better against composite and reactive armour. Penetration is relatively below average when compared to rounds available to your contemporaries, so use it as a stop gap solution until a better round becomes available.
• DM33; APFSDS - Best round available to your tank and third best NATO round available for 105 mm cannons. It allows you to engage most enemies at your BR at any range reliably. With careful aiming, even higher BR vehicles are not safe. Be of note that this round can easily over penetrate light vehicles such as BMP-2 or SPAAGs, so aiming at vital components is preferred in order to create shrapnel necessary to destroy them.

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the M48 Super

Notes:

• Racks 4 and 5 are first stage ammo racks.
• The ammunition model depletes every two rounds after most shots but this depends on how much ammo is left.

Machine guns

The coaxially mounted 7.62 mm MG3A1 is, in most situations, not useful. While being able to "blind" opponents by shooting at their optics, as with any MG, and able to easily dispatch of vehicles with exposed crew that have uptiered themselves, such as the M56, 2 factors really hold this MG back from being truly useful. These are:

• The MG is mounted coaxially, limiting its traverse and AA capabilities (especially against helicopters)
• This MG has very low penetration, as almost any thin armoured plate can withstand its fire

Against some of the bigger and meaner helicopters such as Ka-50, it is simply better to not fire at all in order to stay hidden and not draw attention to yourself.

Usage in battles

While the M48 Super can be played as a regular main battle tank, it works best as a sniper or support tank.

As a sniper, thermals, DM33 round and laser rangefinder allow you to quickly and effectively engage enemy tanks at any range. Using uneven terrain and going hull down, an entrenched M48 Super can shut down large portions of maps for the enemy team.

As a support, stabilised gun coupled with DM33 round can work wonders in CQC. Go with your allies with better armour, let them take shot, and as soon as you see enemy tank fire, lunge forward and send the enemy back to the garage. Your tall profile, which is otherwise handicap, can allow you to fire over friendly tanks without obstruction.

If you are forced to brawl, it is mandatory to make the first shot.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Improved in all aspects compared to M48A2-G-A2
• Unlike the M48A2-G-A2 its gun has a two-plane stabilizer so it can fire on the move
• Much better turret protection than the previous M48A2-G-A2 model
• Has a new better transmission and engine so it can go around as fast as a Leopard tank
• Has access to 1st gen thermal vision device for gunner
• Has access to the powerful 105 mm DM33 round

Cons:

• All the add on armour on the turret is ineffective against APFSDS rounds and ATGMs
• It has a high chance of getting ammo detonation due to ammo layout inside the tank
• Penetrating shots will always take out the gun breech and at least two crews
• It has a large profile compared to other tanks of the same rank
• Has a large engine bulge at the back so it cant fire from its back at all

History

Development

The Super M48 was a private venture offered by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann in the 1990s as a potential upgrade for the M48 Patton that was in service with a number of nations at the time. A total of 5 demonstrator vehicles were built using the M48A2GA2 as their basis. Unfortunately for the Super M48, its creation coincided with the end of the Cold War, which resulted in a surplus of newer American and Soviet tanks which were preferred over an upgraded older tank such as the M48. As such, no nation chose to procure the Super M48 upgrade solution.

Design

The Super M48 maintained the general layout and basis of the M48A2GA2, with a crew of four. It weighed a total of 53 tonnes and was 6.87 m long, 3.63 m, and 2.9 m tall.

The old engine of the M48A2GA2 was replaced by an MTU MB 837 Ea-500 V12 diesel engine producing 1,000 hp, much more powerful than the old engine. The transmission was also replaced by a Renk RK-304 transmission with four forward and four reverse gears. The suspension was nearly unmodified other than the five return rollers being reduced to only three. The new powerpack gave the Super M48 a top speed of 56 km/h.

The protection of the Super M48 was also improved by fitting a layer of composite material around the turret front and sides. This appliqué armour was modular and could be removed when not necessary or replaced when damaged. A spall liner was fitted to the interior of the vehicle. Four smoke grenade launchers were fitted to each side of the turret for a total of eight. Additionally, new sideskirts were fitted on the hull sides.

The main gun was the L7A3 105 mm rifled gun which could fire APFSDS, HESH, HEATFS, and HE. The secondary armament consisted of a coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun and a pintle-mounted 7.62 machine gun mounted on the commander's cupola. 46 rounds of 105 mm ammunition and 10,000 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition were provided.

The tank's fire control system (FCS) was replaced by a MOLF 48 FCS built by Atlas Elektronik. It included a digital ballistic computer, a thermal sight for the gunner with an included laser rangefinder, and an optical rangefinder as a backup. The gun was fitted with a two-plane stabilization system and the gun and turret controls were replaced by an electro-hydraulic system.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the M48 Super from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

See also

Related development

• M48 Patton (Family)

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.