"Patturion and Ti-67?" Topic

Researching the '67 and '73 wars, and I haven't found much material on these two home made Israeli tank modifications. Can someone cast more light on these? TIA

Ti-67 is an alternate name for the Tiran series tanks. These were T-54/55/62s that were captured and put into service. The Tiran 1/2/3 were IIRC the T-54/55/62 unmodified. The Tiran 4/5/6 are the T-54/55/62 that were modified for service. In the -4 and -5 a 105mm was the biggest change, as well as replacement of all the machine guns with the M1919 as well as an M2 over the barrel. Other mods included new stowage bins & IIRC new radios. The Tiran 6 had these mods but retained the 115mm U-5 cannon. These served in second line units into the '80s, with some being converted to Achzarit APCs.

Damon.

As far as I'm aware the 'Cent' you're looking for was the Panturion. the Israeli Sho't with the Brit 105mm and a new diesel engine. I've never heard or seen anything about a 'Patturion'.

Avalon Hill used 'Patturion' in their 'Arab-Israeli Wars' game to refer to M48 Mag'ach upgraded with the 105mm gun.

Thanks for that, I thought all the Mag'ach upgrades each had their own number, ie Mag'ach 7 etc

Mag'ach 3 would seem more accurate. Patturion seems to be a made up term like 'Bengurion' being used for upgraded Centurions when Sh'ot Kal is the correct one.

The Israeli ordinance teams are very good at field repairs of battle damage. They developed kits that would enable putting an M48/60 turret on a Centurion hull and vice versa to make 2 similar damaged tanks into 1 hybrid quickly. There are a few photos floating around of some of these field expedients with the label "Patturion," although I can't seem to find one right now. After the war, the tanks were returned to their original configuration.

The only place I've heard the term Patturion used is in the AH game Arab Israeli wars. The counter silhouette looked like an M48 turret on a Centurion hull. The tank's game stats were completely overpowered making the thing way better than the Sh'ot…I suspect a big bias on the part of the designers.

Centurion turret ring 74" M-48 turret ring 85" seems to me that the amount of work needed to allow a turret/hull swap either way would, if possible at all, totally exceed any possible use. I think this is one of those military myths. Obviously now I've said this somebody will link to a complete history of the type complete with pictures and video. ;-)

Fatman

@Fatman: I suspect that the mod involved cutting the entire turret ring off the dead hull and installing it on the working hull.

Possible if you have a big enough cutting torch.

While I also claim to never have heard of a Patturion, a good source of all things israeli armored is sabingamartin.com/index.html

Damon.

Fatman, I got the info from an LTC in the IDF who was in my class at Knox. He commanded a company in the Sinai in 67 and a battalion in the Golan in 73, so he may know what he was talking about. Wish I had a better reference, but he did show photos of a Centurion hull with an M48 turret on it.

Israeli Centurions come in two flavors. The original British hulls with the original engine/ transmission are Centurion/ Meteor or "Ben-Gurion" tanks. After the US and West Germany sold M-48 tanks to Israel in the mid-1960s it was decided to upgrade the engine and transmission on the Centurions with the same Continental diesel and transmission from the M-60A1. These are Centurion/ Continental or "Patturion" tanks. Most if not all Centurions in 1967 are Meteor engined. In 1973, the first line units are Centurion/ Continental or Patturions and reserve units still have the older un-modified Centurions.
See "The Yom Kippur War" by Rabinovich and "Armor of the Middle-East Wars" by Zaloga.

Very helpful; thanks to all!