The M48A3 was withdrawn from Europe by October 1961, being replaced with the M60 tank. As US armored and cavalry units rotated out of combat deployments to South Vietnam most of their M48A3 tanks were either directly transferred to the South Vietnamese Army or to Thailand. FORSCOM withdrew the M48A3 from combat service with both the US Army and US Marine Corps in 1973 replacing them with the M60A1 tank. Some M48A3s continued in service with National Guard units until 1979. Some were repurposed as AVLBs. Afterwards they were relegated to target use for the testing of radar and weapons systems until the mid 1990s. They were replaced in this role by the QM60.