8/25/2023 0 Comments M48a3 main battle tankThis cupola is equipped with five vision blocks and an M28C sight for controlling the 12.7 mm (0.50) machine gun. The commander is provided with an M1 cupola which he can traverse by hand through 360°. The other three crew members are in the turret with the commander and gunner on the right and the loader on the left. For driving at night, an M24 infrared periscope is placed in the turntable located in the driver's hatch. The driver is seated at the front of the hull in the centre and is provided with a single-piece hatch cover that opens to the right, forward of which are three M27 periscopes. A hull escape hatch is provided in the floor of the tank. The cast hull of the M48 is boat-shaped with additional sections welded into position. The latter facility was run by General Dynamics Land Systems but this has now been closed down. Initial production of the M60 MBT was in fact undertaken at the Delaware Tank Plant but in 1959 a decision was taken that all future production would be undertaken at the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant. Many components of the M48 are also used in the M88 ARV as well as the M53 SPG, and further development of the tank resulted in the M60 series, production of which was finally completed at the Detroit Tank Plant in September 1987. Alco Products of Schenectady also built a number of M48A2 tanks. The first production M48s were completed in 1952 and production of the M48 series amounted to 11,703 units, about 6,000 of which were built by the Chrysler Corporation at the Delaware Tank Plant which continued production until 1959. Chrysler's first production M48 rolled out of the Delaware Tank Plant and was christened by Mrs George S Patton Junior on 1 July 1952. In March 1951, before the prototypes had been completed, the Fisher Body Division of the General Motors Corporation and the Ford Motor Company at Livonia were both given a production contract for the tank. Design work began in late December and six prototypes were built, the first being completed in December 1951. In October 1950, Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant began design work on a new tank armed with a 90 mm gun and, in December the same year, the Chrysler Corporation was awarded a letter of intent to design the new tank under the designation T48.
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