M48A1 (China)
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Contents
Description
The ␗90 mm Gun Tank M48A1 Patton III is a rank V Chinese medium tank with a battle rating of 7.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision".
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour type:
- Cast homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret)
- Rolled homogeneous armour (Rear (low), Roof)
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 85-200 mm (59-74°) Front glacis
63-200 mm (13-60°) Lower glacis |
76 mm (8-43°) Front
51 mm (0-43°) Rear |
35 mm (26-32°) Top
25 mm (61-62°) Bottom |
25.4-57 mm |
| Turret | 127 mm (12-76°) Turret front
152 + 82 mm (17-26°) Gun mantlet |
69-100 mm (12-36°) | 51-55 mm (2-71°) | 25-69 mm |
| Armour | Sides | Roof | ||
| Cupola | 70 mm | 70 mm |
Notes:
- Suspension wheels and tracks are 20 mm thick.
- Belly armour is 38 mm in the front and 25 mm in the rear.
Mobility
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 51 | 10 | 44.9 | 1,255 | 1,545 | 27.95 | 34.41 |
| Realistic | 46 | 9 | 716 | 810 | 15.95 | 18.04 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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|
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Armaments
Main armament
| 90 mm M41 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 60 | -9°/+19° | ±180° | N/A | 22.85 | 31.62 | 38.40 | 42.47 | 45.18 | 9.75 | 8.63 | 7.95 | 7.50 |
| Realistic | 14.28 | 16.80 | 20.40 | 22.56 | 24.00 | ||||||||
Ammunition
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
| M332 shot | APCR | 321 | 316 | 292 | 265 | 240 | 218 |
| T142E3 | HESH | 102 | 102 | 102 | 102 | 102 | 102 |
| M82 shot | APCBC | 185 | 182 | 170 | 155 | 142 | 130 |
| M431 shell | HEATFS | 320 | 320 | 320 | 320 | 320 | 320 |
| M71 shell | HE | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| Shell details | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile Mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | |||||||
| M332 shot | APCR | 1,249 | 5.70 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 66° | 70° | 72° |
| T142E3 | HESH | 792 | 10.60 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 3,050 | 73° | 77° | 80° |
| M82 shot | APCBC | 853 | 10.94 | 1.2 | 14.0 | 137.2 | 48° | 63° | 71° |
| M431 shell | HEATFS | 1,216 | 5.80 | N/A | 0.1 | 712.6 | 65° | 72° | 77° |
| M71 shell | HE | 823 | 10.55 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 925 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
| Smoke shell characteristics | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile Mass (kg) |
Screen radius (m) |
Screen deploy time (s) |
Screen hold time (s) |
Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
| M313 | 821 | 10.7 | 13 | 5 | 20 | 50 |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 | 54 (+6) | 38 (+22) | 30 (+30) | 12 (+48) | 1 (+59) | No |
Machine guns
| 12.7 mm M85 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Pintle | 900 (200) | 626 | -15°/+60° | ±180° |
| 7.62 mm M73 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Coaxial | 5,950 (250) | 500 | N/A | N/A |
Usage in battles
The M48A1 plays as a general medium tank, acting as a jack-of-all-trades in all of the tank's traits with average armour, firepower, and mobility.
The M48A1 front hull glacis and turret are the strong points of the tank and have the best chance on the tank to bounce off rounds. However, its lower glacis and side armour remain a significant weak point for the tank, so take extra caution when exposing those weak points.
One of the best ways to use this tank when a player does not have access to its HEATFS round is to refrain from using it as a brawler. This is because most of the shells that this tank has in its arsenal, do not have the ample firepower to eliminate most of the targets it faces at its BR. However, since the tank is incredibly mobile, it can be used as an excellent flanker. It can out-manoeuvre most of its medium tank rivals and expose their side armours.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Decent frontal armour
- M82 APCBC shells are less effective at its rank but will still do the job if used wisely
- Good penetration for the HEAT rounds
- Good mobility overall
- .50 calibre machine gun is good for use against lightly-armoured vehicles and aircraft
Cons:
- Armour can still be penetrated by the majority of the guns at this rank
- Stock APCR round is painful to use
- Slow turret traverse
History
Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).
Media
- Images
- Videos
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the vehicles;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- encyclopedia page on the tank;
- other literature.
| China medium tanks | |
|---|---|
| ZTZ59 | Type 59 · ZTZ59A · ZTZ59D1 |
| ZTZ69 | Type 69 · Type 69-IIa |
| ZTZ88/96 | ZTZ88A · ZTZ88B |
| ZTZ96 · ZTZ96A · ZTZ96A (P) | |
| ZTZ99 | ZTZ99-II · ZTZ99-III |
| ZTZ99A | ZTZ99A · WZ1001(E) LCT |
| Export series | MBT-2000 · VT4A1 |
| ROC | CM11 |
| Other | Т-34-85 Gai · Object 122MT "MC" |
| Bangladesh | T-69 II G |
| Japan | ␗Chi-Ha · ␗Chi-Ha Kai |
| Pakistan | Al-Khalid-I |
| USA | ␗M4A4 · ␗M4A4 (1st PTG) · ␗M4A1 (75) W · ␗M48A1 · ␗M60A3 TTS |
| USSR | ␗T-34 (1943) · ␗Т-34-85 (S-53) · T-34-85 No.215 · Т-62 №545 |
