[3e] M48 Patton Tank

[Phaelen Bleux]

In the vein of statting things I'll never use, here's a tank I just finished. I'm not even running a campaign to use it in. Suggestions/critiques welcome (well, actually, sought out).

M48 Patton II Tank
With the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, the U.S. Army wanted to rapidly expand its tank armament. The M46 was currently operational in Korea, but was seen as too slow, despite the fact that it fared well against Soviet tanks. Work began on the M47, but this was only seen as an interim tank--it featured a T42 turret on a M46 chassis. After a single year, it was decided to replace the M47. The M48 featured an entirely new turret on a redesigned chassis. Early versions of the tank had numerous teething problems, but the kinks were mostly worked out by 1959, culminating in the -A3. The M48A3 was used extensively in Vietnam, India, and Israel.
By the mid-1970s, the M48 was reaching its senescence with an underpowered 90mm main gun. The tank received numerous upgrades, including a larger 105mm tank gun, the addition of a second pintle-mounted MG by the loader's hatch, and more modern equipment and electronics. The modern M48A5, although still vulnerable to more advanced tanks and anti-tank weapons, remains in service with many foreign countries (such as Germany, India, and Israel), as well as the U.S. National Guard.
The tank has a crew of four. The driver sits in the body, front and center. The commander sits in the right rear of the turret, the gunner in the right front of the turret, and the loader in the left rear turret. The loader operates the pintle-mounted 7.62mm MG; the driver fires the coaxial 7.62mm MG; and the commander fires the pintle-mounted 12.7mm HMG. The commander's HMG is sometimes replaced by a third 7.62mm MG. The tank burns 22.4 gallons of fuel per hour at routine usage. Cruising range is 300 miles. The tank can ford depths of 4 feet and cross trenches of 8.5 feet. It can cross a vertical obstacle up to 3 feet tall without difficulty.

M48A5 Patton II
Subassemblies: Body +4, Turret +3; OM1 [Tur:T] +0, Tur2 [Tur:T] +0.
Powertrain: 560-kW HP turbocharged diesel engine with 560-kW tracked drivetrain; 20,000-kWs lead acid battery.
Fuel: 385 gallons diesel (Fire 9).
Occupancy: 1 NCS Body; 3 NCS Turret.
Cargo: 0 cf.

Armor F RL B T U
Body: 6/616 4/213 5/185 4/160 4/84
Turret: 5/462 4/213 4/123 4/160 4/84
Tracks: 4/80

Weaponry:
105mm Tank Gun/M68 Rifled Gun [Turret:F] (54 rounds APDS).
7.62mm Coaxial MG/M73 [Turret:F] (5,000 rounds solid).
7.62mm MG/M60D [OM1:T] (5,000 rounds solid).
12.7mm HMG/M2HB [OM2:T] (3,000 rounds solid).

Equipment:
Body: Spall liner, fire extinguisher system, smoke discharger with 12 reloads, 4-person environmental control, 4-person NBC kit. Turret: Spall liner, medium-range radio; 3-mile searchlight, IFF, 5-mile laser rangefinder, 10x telescopic periscope, Light amplification, navigation instruments, full stabilization for main gun and coaxial MG. OMs: Universal mounts and full stabilization. Camouflage paint overall.

Statistics:
Size: 21'x12'x10' Payload: 3.78 tons Lwt.: 54 tons
Volume: 945 cf. Maint.: 33 hours Price: $377,355

HT: 9. HPs: 2,910 Body, 1,170 Turret, 780 each Track, 32 OM1; 77 OM2.

gSpeed: 30 gAccel: 3 gDecel: 20 gMR: 0.25 gSR: 6
Ground Pressure Moderate. ½ Off-Road speed.

Design Notes:
Body is 334 cf with 60-degree slope on the Front and 30-degree slope on the rear; turret is 165 cf with 30-degree slop on the front; tracks are 285 cf. Structure is Extra-Heavy, Cheap. Body and turret are Sealed. Armor is cheap metal. Mechanical controls. Empty weight is 100,432 lbs. Design gSpeed was 39 mph. Battery kWs were a guess.

Variants:
The M48 (1952) installed a 604-kW gasoline engine, 200 gallon fuel tanks, a 90mm main gun, and no pintle-mounted 7.62mm MG. Range was a problem, as was the volatility of the gasoline carried. One hundred M48s were found to have armor defects and were designated the M48C; they were used for training only.
The M48A1 altered the driver's hatch and commander's cupola, allowing the HMG to be loaded from inside the tank.
The M48A2 received an improved fuel injection gasoline engine, and 335-gallon gas tanks to increase range. The exhaust system was reconfigured to reduce IR signature.
The M48A3 (1968) was the first to feature a diesel engine to reduce fire risk in combat and increase range. The commander has a very cramped seat in the turret. This is the version that fought in the Vietnam War.
The M48A4 (1965) was to mount surplus M60 turrets on M48A3 hulls. The project was cancelled with the production of only a handful of tanks.
The M48A2GA2, in use by Germany, replaces the M68 cannon with a British-made L7A3 gun. 650 M48A5s were modified.

[Dreaded88]

Howdy:
Please edit to include: Size of Tank Body, Size of Turret, and Size of Coupla, as given in the GURPS WWII Stats.
Thanks.

[mlangsdorf]

G:WW2 vehicle spaces are 5 cf, so it looks like the closest modular vehicle sizes would be:
Immense Tank with Advanced Slope, Small TD turret with Mild Slope, and a Mini open mount for the cupola.