Starting in 1975 M48A3 tanks that were still in service with the Army National Guard were converted to the M48A5 standard. These tanks were initially converted from former M48A3 tanks using the M48A1 hull design (with 5 return rollers) and given the designation M48A5PI. But, after August 1976 these early hull conversions were further upgraded, the PI designation was removed, and these tanks were redesignated as the M48A5. By March 1978, 708 M48A5 tanks had been converted from the M48A1 hull model. In conjunction with the conversion of M48A1 tank hulls, the conversion of M48A3s mated to M48A2 hulls (with 3 return rollers) to the M48A5 standard was also implemented in 1976. The conversion program ran from October 1975 to December 1979 with a total of 2,069 M48A3s converted to the A5 standard.