What was the main battle tank in Vietnam?

M48
[4] The M48 served as the U.S. Army and Marine Corps’s primary battle tank in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was widely used by U.S. Cold War allies, especially other NATO countries. The M48 Patton tank was designed to replace the previous M47 Pattons and M4 Shermans.

What army tanks were used in Vietnam?

M48 Tank Was America’s Workhorse of the Vietnam War

• In the years following the Second World War, the U.S. military was left with three main tanks: the M26 heavy tank, M4 Sherman medium tank, and M24 light tank.
• The “T48” project was conceived in the early 1950s as a further development of the M47.

Was the M48 tank used in Vietnam?

The M48 Patton was developed during the Cold War to replace the M47 as the US Army’s main battle tank. The M48 served with the US and NATO countries in Europe and the US Army and Marine Corps in Vietnam. …

Was the Patton tank used in Vietnam?

The M48 Patton served as an interim tank in U.S. service until replaced by the U.S. Army’s first main battle tank (MBT), the M60. The M48 served as the U.S. Army and Marine Corps’s primary battle tank during the Vietnam War. The M48 Patton tank was designed to replace the previous M47 Pattons and M4 Shermans.

Were there tanks in Vietnam War?

Due to Vietnam’s soggy jungle terrain, tanks were not used extensively in combat during the Vietnam War. One of the most common infantry weapons used by U.S. troops in Vietnam was the M-60 machine gun, which could also be used as an artillery weapon when mounted or operated from a helicopter or tank.

Were there Abrams tanks in Vietnam?

The M1 Abrams is an American third-generation main battle tank produced by the United States. It is named after General Creighton Abrams, former Army Chief of Staff and Commander of U.S. military forces in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972. The M1 Abrams entered U.S. service in 1980, replacing the M60 tank.

Was the M48 Patton a good tank?

Most of these tanks were rebuilt M48a3s and they proved to be durable and effective and very resistant to RPG, recoilless rifle and bazooka fire. The M48 was a good, if not a great tank, and it served the US and it’s allies well for many years.

What tank came after the M48?

M60 tank
The M48 Patton-series saw widespread service with the United States and NATO until it was superseded by the M60 tank as well as being widely exported.

Did Patton invent the tank?

The tank was then a new weapon that had only occasionally been used in battle. When the U.S. Army decided to form a Tank Corps in late 1917, Captain George S. Patton volunteered to help create this completely new force.

Why were tanks not used in Vietnam?

Due to Vietnam’s soggy jungle terrain, tanks were not used extensively in combat during the Vietnam War. Armored personnel carriers such as the M-113 transported troops and performed reconnaissance and support functions.

What were M48 tanks used for in the Vietnam War?

During the Tet offensive in 1968 the M48 tanks proved very helpful for urban fighting, especially during the fights of Hue. Late in the war they were also used to fight tanks, as the M-48 encountered the North-Vietnamese PT-76 tanks. The peculiarity of the Vietnam War influenced the look of the vehicles employed there.

How many M48 Pattons were used in Vietnam?

The M48 saw extensive action with the US military during the Vietnam War. Over 600 Pattons would be deployed with US forces during that war. The initial M48s first landed with the US Marine 1st and 3rd Tank Battalions in 1965, with the 5th Marine Tank Battalion later becoming a back-up/reinforcement unit.

What unit is this M48A3 from?

This M48A3 belonged to Company B, 1st battalion, 69th Armor Regiment (1-69th). The regiment lineage goes back to the 69th Tank Battalion of the 6th Armored Division during WWII.

What happened to the M-48 Patton tank?

The M-48 Patton tank replaced in service the M46 and M47 tanks, which couldn’t match the performance and parameters of the soviet tanks of that time. The M48 prototype was evaluated in 1951 and, due to the Korean War going on, hastily put into production in 1952, which had an adverse effect on the maturity of the construction.