By 1965, the Magach had been progressively upgraded by adding the British Centurion 105mm main gun and reactive armor blocks for improved protection. In this case, the M48 coming from the USA also came with uncompromised data. As a point of reference the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) was, and is not today, forth coming with specific changes and some data released was false so as not to allow enemies access to current data. The tanks arrived in Israel with 90mm guns and, at first, only small modifications were made. Israel eventually upgraded their M48s to become the "Magach" series. The replacement for older M48s in the European Theater was now the newer M60 Patton tank - a combat system capable of matching similar Soviet Bloc equipment. These were M48A1 & M48A2C production models and, when media outlets found out about the transaction, the order was stopped and rerouted to originate from the United States instead. Israel ordered 1950-era M48 tanks from stock piles in Germany as part of the reparations from the Holocaust of World War 2.
Israel needed tanks to defend her borders from the Arab states and the American M48 tank was the best choice based on reliability and available stock.
0 kommentar(er)
