The CM-12 program selected some M48A3 hulls and replaced the petrol engines with diesel engines, installed a new transmission, replaced the tracks, and replaced the turret with the CM-11's turret. The modified tank was renamed CM-12.[2]
During the Brave Tiger (CM-11) upgrade program, AVDC received an M48A5 for reference. The idea of the CM-12 was derived from the M48A5. The exterior of CM-12 and M48A5 are similar, but the interior is completely different; the main difference being that replacing the original engine and turret of the M48A3 cost interior fuel capacity, decreasing its range. The CM-12 also has an upgraded fire-control system due to it using the same turret as the CM-11. 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.[3]
The protection on CM-12 is outdated, being unable to stop shells fired from the 125mm smoothbore cannon mounted on tanks used by the Chinese People's Liberation Army such as the Type 96, and the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.
Close up of the CM-12's turret
Side view of the CM-12
Rear view of the CM-12
A ready-to-transport CM-12
Soldiers removing machine guns from a CM-12