- Doug_Kibbey
Well, drop tanks on aircraft are not flimsy 55 gal. drums positioned immediately over the hot exhausts of a vehicle vibrating/bouncing over roads/uneven ground out of view to the crew and subject to anybody with an antique firearm taking potshot at them. That's rather my point. Gas is more safely transported in sturdy, purpose-built trucks that can follow in the trains behind the tanks in advance. It worked well enough in every war from WWII to Desert Storm...assuming your side had the fuel and the means to move it.
Well, the drums are at least as sturdy as the average aircraft drop tank that I have seen. The drums were offset to the rear. IN THEORY - if they had been penetrated the leaking fuel should drain to the ground behind the vehicle. There was a low sheet metal protector that was folded up in front of the drums. When I first saw the photos I assumed it was for bullet/shrapnel protection, but then I learned about the "flamethrower" qualities of the M48/48A1 exhausts and it became clear that it was more of a flame damper. In the late 1950s the Army wasn't getting the GOER or HEMTT type all-terrain fuel trucks. This was obviously an experdient to serve until the "proper" fix - a better tank engine.
When I was first researching M48s for the project that Jim Mesko finished as "M48 In Action" I received many photos from National Guard units that had used the M48s fairly late. They didn't often show the fuel rack fitted. This seems to have been used primarily in Europe and foreign slaes. There were M48A1s in the 1958(?) Lebanon intervention that had the fuel racks fitted. I think either Jordan or Pakistan had them on their M48s.
The Centurion used a large trailer for extra fuel. I can't say that I'd be much happier with a trailer dragging along versus the drums. Either system should have come with a sign "Shoot Here First".