introduction

Tankograd book couldn't have arrived for review in a better moment! Legend Productions from Korea have just released their comprehensive resin conversions set for Tamiya M48A3 kit to modify it to West German M48A2GA2 variant, and the book is excellent reference to build model of this and other variants of M48 tank in Bundeswehr service.

overview

“Der Kampfpanzer M 48 in der Bundeswehr / The M 48 Main Battle Tank in German Army Service” by Stefan Marx is a bilingual German/English publication, printed on high quality paper in typical for Tankograd A4 format. The book contains 64 pages with a lot of high quality black and white and color photographs and also several illustrations from technical manuals. All text in the book, including photo captions is printed in two languages. Majority of photos in the book are black and white, particularly for earlier variants. For later variant we get more color photos showing the tank both in Bundeswehr earlier overall Olive-Gelb camouflage and in three color NATO camouflage in which it served in the last years of its service in German Army.

in detail

There are thirteen chapters in the book and most of them are purely photo collections with captions, without any paragraph text.

Tank, Combat, Full-Tracked, 90 mm Gun, M48 “Patton II” – This fist chapter in short two paragraphs covers the historical background of the introduction of M48 tank to production in the USA.

The M 48 Main Battle Tank in German Army Service – This chapter, longest in the book, in seven sub-chapter covers the history of service of M48 tank in Bundeswehr from its procurement in 1957 in original American M48A1 version, through all later variants – both original US ones and modified in Germany, until the retirement of last tanks in 1991. In this chapter M 48 A1, M 48 A2, M 48 A2 C, M 48 A2 G / M 48 A2 C G and M 48 A2 G A2 are described in details with a lot of technical details. The table with technical specifications for three major variants is included further in the book. It is interesting to note that author of the book correctly recognized different nomenclature used in the US and in Germany. In the text for tanks in German service he used spaces between parts of tank designation (like “M 48 A2”) while US vehicles are described in American format (i.e. “M48A2”).

Following five chapters are photo collections only with lots of “in-action” and some detail photos:
M 48 A1 Main Battle Tank
M 48 A2 Main Battle Tank
M 48 A2 in Technical Close-Up – Here we find several illustration form original US Army technical manual.
M 48 A2 C Main Battle Tank
M 48 A2 G A2 Main Battle Tank – In this chapter we get most color photos of final M48 variant that served in German Army.

M 48 – Organization within the German Army – This chapter covers the organizational structure of M48 tank units in German Army and also mentions the use of various specialized versions of it, like Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge or Keitel min-clearing vehicle. The latter one is the last M48 based vehicle remaining in German Army service today.

M 48 G Export – The mini chapter contains only three photos of M48 tanks upgraded in Germany for Turkish and Greek armies.

M 48 Armoured Engineer Vehicle – Here we get one photo and one technical manual drawing of tank equipped with dozer blade.

Super M 48 – This chapter covers in detail the upgrade package for M48 tanks designed by German Wegmann and GLS firms, for which however no customers were found to date.

M 48 with Leopard 2 Turret – Here included are two photos of M48 hull with Leo 2 turret attached, but unfortunately it was not upgrade proposal, but only a way to transport Leo turret during tests.

Assessment and Retrospect – This final chapter summarizes almost 35 years of service of M48 tanks in German Army.

conclusion

Another excellent publication from Tankograd – a must have for M48 and modern German Army enthusiasts and particularly recommended for modelers building models of German variants of Patton tank.

acknowledgments

Thanks Tankograd for supplying this title for review.