Comparative Data of the main Battle Tanks in the 1973 Yom Kippur War Aspect T-54B T-55: 1&2 T-62 M-48A3 M-60A-1 Centurion Mk5 Date Introduced Into Service 1949 1957 1962 1952* 1961 1945** Combat Weight (long tons) (1 ton=2200 pounds) 35.4 36 36.5 47.5 48.1 51.8 Length Gun Forward (meters) 9.02 9.02 9.40 9.15 9.44 9.82 Width (meters) 3.28 3.28 3.35 3.63 3.63 3.40*** Height to Cupola TOp (meters) 2.40 2.40 2.40 3.12 3.26 2.96 Engine Model/Cylinders V-2-54/V-12 V-2-55/V-12 V-2-62/V-12 Continental AVDS-1790-2A/V-12 Power/Weight Ratio 14.7:1 16.1:1 15.9:1 15.9:1 15.7:1 14.5:1 Horsepower (watercooled) 520 580 580 750 750 750 Fuel Diesel Diesel Diesel Diesel Diesel Diesel Speed: Maximum Road (mph) 30 31 31 31 30 27 Speed: Cross-country (mph) 16-22 16-22 16-22 16-20 16-20 16-20 Cruising Range, Road (miles) (integral fuel/external aux. tanks) 300/400 300/400 310/445 287 312 250 Ground Pressure (psi) 11.8 11.4 10.2 11.8 11.2 13.3 Armor Thickness / Angle of Armor **** Glacis Plate 100mm/60 deg. 100mm/60 deg. 100mm/60 deg. 110mm/60 deg. 110mm/60 deg. 152mm/60 deg. Upper Hull Side 70mm/0 deg. 70mm/0 deg. 70mm/0 deg. 75mm/0 deg. 75mm/0 deg. 110mm/0 deg. ***** Mantlet 170mm basis 170mm basis 170mm basis 110mm basis 110mm basis 152mm basis Crew 4 4 4 4 4 4 Main Armament (Gun) 100mm 100mm 115mm Smoothbore cannon 105mm 105mm 105mm Model-Length in Calibers D-10T2S LJ56 D-10T2S V56 45TS L/55 L7A1 L/51 L7A1 V51 L7A1 V51 US designation: T254E2 Basic Ammunition Load 34 43 44 62 63 70 Elevation/Depression of Gun +17 deg./-4O +17 deg./-4O +15/-3 deg. +19/-9 deg. +19/-9 deg. +20/-10 deg. Max Sustained Rate of Fire 3-5 rds per min 3-5 rpm 3-4rpm 8-9rpm 9rpm 9-10 repm Muzzle Velocity (m/s) APHE 918 APHE 918 APFSDS 1538 APDS 1470 APDS 1470 APDS 1470 Muzzle Velocity (m/s) HEAT 1000 HEAT 1000 HEAT 900 HEAT 1184 HEAT 1184 HEAT 1184 HESH 680 Effective Range of Gun (meters) 1000 1000 1000 2000 2000 2000 AA Armament (Turret Machinegun) 12.7mm DShK - T-62A:12.7mm DShK Machinegun (turret roof) 7.62mm M1919 7.62mm M1919 12.7mm M85 Basic Ammo load 500 rounds - - 1040 rds 1049 rds 582 rds Bow (Hull) Machinegun 7.62 SGMT - Coaxial (Turret) Machinegun 7.62mm SGMT 7.62mm SGMT Sometimes PKT (later models) 7.62mmPKT 7.62mmM37 7.62mmM73 12.7mm Basic Ammunition Load 3000 rounds 3500 rounds 3500 rounds 6000 rounds 5500 rounds 3000 rounds Track Width (mm) 580 580 580 710 710 610 * Most of the M-48's received by Israel were A2 types, subsequently brought up to A3 standards ** Refers to the Mk.1. The Mk.5 was introduced in 1950. *** Including side skirt armor. **** Angle of armor is with reference to 0 degrees being equal to vertical. *****Side skirt equals 30mm of armor (included in figure given). More Arab-Israeli Armor 1973 Arab-Israeli Armor 1973: Introduction Arab-Israeli Armor 1973: T-54/55/62 Arab-Israeli Armor 1973: M-48/60 Arab-Israeli Armor 1973: Centurion Mk 5 Arab-Israeli Armor 1973: TO&E Arab-Israeli Armor 1973: Jewish Tank Markings Arab-Israeli Armor 1973: Tanker Crew Arab-Israeli Armor 1973: Comparative Data (Chart) Arab-Israeli Armor 1973: Comparative Ammunition Arab-Israeli Armor 1973: Observations and Conclusions Arab-Israeli Armor 1973: Paper Tanks Arab-Israeli Armor 1973: Bibliography Arab-Israeli Armor 1973: Glossary of Terminology Arab-Israeli Armor 1973: 1/64 Scale Illustrations (extremely slow: 439K) Back to Table of Contents -- Conflict Special Study 1 Back to Conflict List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1975 by Dana Lombardy. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com