Magach (M48/M60)

1968 COLD WAR MAIN BATTLE TANK

• 1 Magach (M48/M60) History
• 2 Magach (M48/M60) Specification
  • 2.1 Basic
  • 2.2 Roles
  • 2.3 Dimensions
  • 2.4 Performance
  • 2.5 Performance
  • 2.6 Armor
  • 2.7 Changes

Magach (M48/M60) History

Israel needs tanks to defend the borders of Arab countries, and the American M48 tank is the best choice due to its reliability and available stock. Israel ordered 1,950 M48 tanks from German inventory as part of the Holocaust reparations in WWII. These were the M48A1 and M48A2C production models, and when the media learned of the deal, orders were put on hold and sourced from the US instead.

In the European theater, the replacement for the old M48 is now the updated M60 Patton tank - a combat system comparable to similar Soviet bloc equipment.

Israel finally upgraded its M48 to the "Magach" series. The tanks arrived in Israel with 90mm guns, initially only slightly modified.

For reference, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) brought specific changes that are not available today, and some of the published data is wrong for not giving the enemy access to the updated data. In this case, the M48 from the US also comes with uncompromising data.

By 1965, the Magach had been gradually upgraded with the addition of the British 105mm Centurion main gun and reactive armor blocks for improved protection.

In 1967, the combined forces of Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq dispatched 547,000 soldiers, 957 aircraft, and 2,800 of the best tanks the Soviet Union could offer - namely T-54, T-55, T-85 (85mm caliber) gun) and about 22 SU-100 tank destroyers (tanks with 100mm guns). In response to the looming onslaught from the Arab world, Israel will deploy 50,000 active-duty troops and call up another 214,000 reservists.

In addition, it will field 300 aircraft, several naval units and 800 tanks - including the WWII-era Magach and M4 Sherman, both early and improved versions of the latter.

The Israeli army is concentrated on the Egyptian border, including 6 armored brigades, 1 infantry brigade, 1 mechanized infantry brigade, 3 paratrooper brigades and 700 tanks, totaling about 70,000 people. Israel's plan was to surprise Egyptian forces with a pre-emptive tank attack, which coincided with the Indian Air Force's attack on Egyptian airfields.

The casualties of the war were far from the high estimates expected by Israel, with 338 soldiers killed on the Egyptian front, 300 on the Jordanian front, and 141 on the Syrian front. Egypt lost 80% of its military equipment, seized hundreds of tanks, and killed 10,000 soldiers and 1,500 officers. Between 6,000 and 7,000 people were killed in Jordan.

Syria lost 2,500 casualties and half its tanks, and almost all artillery stationed in the Golan Heights was captured or destroyed. The main reasons that led to Israel's victory in the Six-Day War were aerial campaigns and superior tank tactics, which used flanking movements rather than frontal attacks by the Arabs.

Magach (M48/M60) Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

Armor

65 x 105mm bullet.

1,000 x 12.7mm ammo.

6,000x7.62mm ammo.

12 x Smoke Grenade.

Changes