CM-12 tank

On May 24, 2025, authorities announced that the CM-12 would be decommissioned in 2026, and the entire fleet was sent to a military logistics center for dismantling. ==Design==

The modification was completed as of 1993. The CM-12 can be distinguished from the CM-11 by the rounded glacis plates, and from the M48A3 by the 105mm M68A1 cannon, which is longer than the 90mm T139/M3A1 cannon on the M48A3 and lacks a muzzle brake, and by the different commander's cupola. == Modifications ==

The CM-12 program selected some M48A3 hulls, which were previously upgraded from M48A1s by replacing the petrol engines with diesel engines and installing a new transmission. The new round of modifications adopted new tracks that don't wear out paved roads as quickly and replaced the turret with the CM-11's turret. The modified tank was renamed CM-12. The idea of the CM-12 was derived from the M48A5, an example of which the AVDC received during the Brave Tiger (CM-11) upgrade program for reference. The exterior of CM-12 and M48A5 are similar, but the interior is completely different, with the main difference being that Taiwan's M48A3 retained the flush engine deck from the M48A1, the diesel engine being accommodated by deleting adjacent fuel cells. This means that Taiwan's M48A3 and CM-12 have a far shorter operational range compared to an American-built or -converted M48A3/A5 (although still much better than that of the M48A1, able to go near the old Patton's maximum range without needing external fuel drums). The CM-12 also has the same upgraded fire-control system as the CM-11 whereas the M48A5 has no upgraded fire-control system. The armament of CM-12 is identical to CM-11's. The main cannon is an M68A1 105mm cannon, which can fire ammunition such as armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding-sabot (APFSDS) Rounds. It can carry up to 60 rounds on board. One M2HB machine gun is mounted on the commander's cupola, one T74 machine gun on the gunner's cupola, and one coaxial M240 machine gun inside the turret. The protection on CM-12 is outdated, being unable to stop shells fired from the 125mm smoothbore cannon mounted on tanks used by the Chinese People's Liberation Army such as the Type 96, and the material used is inferior to that used on newer tanks, being made of cast steel instead of more modern composite materials. After the great disarmament of Ching Shih (精實案) and Ching Chin (精進案), the existing CM-11 and M60A3 TTS tanks are enough for the ROCA, and almost half of the CM-12s are now retired. File:CM-12 Tank Turret Font Near View 20120211.JPG|Close up of the CM-12's turret File:CM-12 Tank Side View in ROCA Infantry School 20120211a.JPG|Side view of the CM-12 File:CM-12 Tank Rear View in ROCA Infantry School 20120211.JPG|Rear view of the CM-12 File:CM-12 Tank Ready to Transport 20120211a.JPG|A ready-to-transport CM-12 File:Soldiers Taken out Machine Guns of CM-12 Tank 20120211.jpg|Soldiers removing machine guns from a CM-12 == References ==