These factors combined meant that it was one of the few Federation ground weapons capable of facing mobile suits head-on during the early stage of the war. Its 155mm cannons, the most powerful among Federation ground weapons at the time, could penetrate a Zaku's armor depending on the range.

ĭespite these setbacks, the M61A5's powerful engine allowed it to keep up with a Zaku's walking speed.

Finally, though its armor was tough, it was vulnerable against top attacks, making it especially defenseless against mobile suits. Its datalink system was also rendered unusable, reducing its ability to coordinate with other vehicles. Under Minovsky particle interference, the M61A5 could only observe its surroundings using external cameras and its periscope, giving it a bad field of vision, especially at night. Unfortunately, following the beginning of the One Year War, the Principality of Zeon military's use of Minovsky particles interfered with electronics and restricted combat to visual range only. Finally, thanks to a satellite-based datalink system, it was able to share data with other vehicles, dramatically improving its accuracy at long-range. In addition, due to increased automation, it was able to be crewed by only two people, a commander/gunner and a driver. An improved variant of the Type 61 Tank, the Type 5 swapped its predecessor's 150mm cannons for a pair of 155mm smoothbore cannons.

E.f.g.f. m61a5 main battle tank