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| M60 Patton | |
|---|---|
 M60A3 Patton | |
| Type | Main battle tank |
| Place of origin |  United States
|
| Service history | |
| In service | 1960 - early 1990s (USA) |
| Wars | Yom Kippur War, Vietnam War, Iran-Iraq War, Gulf War |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, Chrysler |
| Variants | Many, see the variants section |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | M60: 46 tonnes (50.7 tons) M60A1 52 to 54 tons depending on turret design. |
| Length | M60: 6.94 m (22.79\') |
| Width | M60: 3.6 m (11.92\') |
| Height | M60: 3.2 m (10.54\') |
| Crew | 4 |
| | |
| Armor | 150 mm (6.12") |
| Primary armament | 105 mm (4.1") M68 gun (M60/A1/A3) 152mm (6 in) M162 Gun/Launcher (M60A2) |
| Secondary armament | 12.7 mm M85 machine gun 7.62 mm Machine gun |
| Engine | Continental AVDS-1790-2 V12 air cooled, twin turbocharged diesel 750 hp |
| Power/weight | 14.5 hp/ton |
| Suspension | torsion bar |
| Ground clearance | 389 mm (15.3") |
| Operational range | 480 km (300 miles) |
| Speed | 48 km/h (30 mph) |
The M60 Patton was the fourth and last of the Patton series medium tanks of the U.S Army. The M60 served as the primary main battle tank of the Cold War, with models in service beginning in 1960 up through the 1990s. The newer model M60 was the U.S. Army\'s basic main battle tank stationed in Europe (Germany) and South Korea during the Cold War, while the older M48 Patton tanks were being deployed in Southeast Asia (Vietnam) from 1965 through 1975, by both the USMC and US Army. It was widely used by U.S. Cold War allies, especially other NATO countries. The tank belongs to the Patton family of tanks, named after General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. Third Army during World War II and one of the earliest American advocates for the use of tanks in battle. It was a further development of the M48 Patton tank.
The M60 tank was designed to replace the previous M48 Pattons. Largely resembling the M48, the M60 Patton has a redesigned hull with straight front slope (versus the M48\'s rounded front slope), three support rollers per side (instead of five) and with aluminum road wheels (versus the M48\'s steel road wheels). It is armed with 105 mm main gun (while earlier Patton series tanks carried 90 mm guns). The gun has a bore evacuator located near the center of the barrel and lacks a muzzle brake. The initial variant of M60 had essentially the same turret as M48; subsequent variants received a new "needlenose" turret.
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In 1957, a new vehicle was called for in the US with a 105 mm main gun and a redesigned hull with better armor protection. This new vehicle (originally designated M68) was put into production in 1959, reclassified as the M60 and entered service in 1960. Over 15,000 M60s (all variants) were constructed.
The improved design provided an increased operational range of 300+ miles, required a minimum of refueling and servicing, and incorporated an improved main armament. A Continental V-12 750 hp air-cooled, twin-turbocharged diesel engine powered the vehicle. Power is transmitted to a final drive through a cross drive transmission, which is a combined transmission, differential, steering, and braking unit. The hull of this vehicle is a single piece steel casting and is divided into two compartments: the crew in the front and the engine at the rear.
The M60 was the last U.S. tank to use the co-axial version of the M60 Machine Gun, the M60E2, as well as steel armor and an escape hatch under the hull, as the M1 Abrams that replaced it lacked sufficient ground clearance.
M60A1 tank of the U.S. Army maneuvers through a narrow German village street while participating in the multi-national military training exercise, REFORGER \'82.
In 1963, the M60 was upgraded to the M60A1. This new variant, which stayed in production until 1980, featured a larger, better-shaped turret and improvements to the armor protection and shock absorbers. The M60A1 was also equipped with a stabilization system for the main gun. However, the M60A1 was still not able to fire on the move, as the system only kept the gun pointed in the same general direction while the tank was traveling cross country. It did however enable the coaxial machine gun to be brought to bear while moving with some accuracy.
M60A2 tank is driven off LARC 60 amphibious landing craft during the Army exposition PROLOG \'85.
The M60A2, nicknamed the "Starship" due to its space-aged technology, featured an entirely new low-profile turret with a commander\'s machine-gun cupola on top, giving the commander a good view and field of fire while under armor but spoiling the low profile. It also featured a 152mm caliber main gun similar to that of the M551 Sheridan light tank, which fired regular rounds as well as the Shillelagh anti-tank guided missile (ATGM). The fitting of a CBSS (closed breech scavenger system) which used pressurized air used to clear the breech after each shot solved some problems such as unburnt propellant from the main gun rounds fouling the barrel and pre-detonating subsequent rounds. The M60A2 proved a disappointment, though technical advancements would pave the wave for future tanks. The SHILLELAGH/M60A2 system was phased out from active units by 1981, and the turrets scrapped. Most of the M60A2 tanks were rebuilt as M60A3, or the hulls converted to armoured vehicle-launched bridge (AVLB) vehicles.Patton Mania M60
M60A3 main battle tank moves along a street in Germany during Exercise Reforger \'85.
In 1978, work began on the M60A3 variant. It featured a number of technological enhancements, including smoke dischargers, a new rangefinder and ballistic computer, and a turret stabilization system. All active American M60s eventually underwent the conversion to the A3 model.
The M60A3 was phased out of US service in the early 1990s, but it remained a front-line MBT into the 21st century for a number of other countries.
While overall a less effective tank than the M1 Abrams, the M60A3 did have some advantages over M1 models:
M60s and M60A1s saw action with Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War in both the Sinai and the Golan Heights. The United States sent additional M60s to Israel just before and during hostilities. Following the war, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) received many more M48s, M60s and M60A1s from the U.S. Two variants of the M60 Patton tanks were used in the Vietnam War, the AVLB and the CEV. The Armored Vehicle Launch Bridge, commonly referred to as the "Bridge tank" was mounted on an M60 Patton tank hull, and the Combat Engineer Vehicle was an M60 Patton, except it had a short-tubed 165mm main gun that fired a shaped charge.
Israel further upgraded their inventory of M60s prior to their use in the invasion of Lebanon in the 1982 Lebanon War. The Israeli modifications included new tracks and Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA). This variant was known as the Magach. Further work in Israel has been done on the upgraded Magach models, adding new armor, new fire control system, a thermal sleeve and smoke dischargers. The latest versions, the Magach 7 (with variants A through C), are still in use with the IDF.
The M60A1 RISE (PASSIVE) of the U.S. Marines saw limited action in the Gulf War in opposition to Iraqi tanks, opposing various enemy tanks including T-54, T-55, T-62, Type 69, and the T-72. The M60A1s were fitted with reactive add-on armor packages and supported the drive into Kuwait City where they were involved in a two day tank battle at the Kuwait airport with the loss of only one vehicle and no crew. They saw service with the United States Marine Corps, and the Saudi Arabian Army.
As of 2005, M60 variants are in service with Austria, Bahrain, Bosnia, Brazil, Egypt, Greece, Iran, Israel, Portugal, Spain, Singapore, Turkey, Taiwan, Thailand and some other nations to varying degrees. Also, the US continues to have significant stockpiles of them waiting to be scrapped, sold-off, or converted, although some vehicles that use the chassis are still in use. Most of those still used are much upgraded models. Pattons formed the basis for many \'new\' tank designs, some using the chassis but with all-new turrets others using various upgrade packages.
Overall, the M60A1/A3s outperformed various opposing tanks in various conflicts including T-55s, T-62s, T-72s and Type 69s such as the Yom Kippur war and the battle for the Kuwait airport that involved hundreds of tanks in a 2-day, all out battle with only one vehicle lost on the US side. It must be said that the Marine Corps M60A1s had ERA that helped protect them, and that the Iraqi tank crews were not well trained and using poorly maintained equipment. During the Yom Kippur War, the M60 tank proved effective versus T-54/55 and T-62 tanks. However, many Israeli M60s were destroyed by Egyptian troops armed with AT-3 Sagger anti-tank missiles. Most of these casualties were in the first few days following the Egyptian crossing of the Suez Canal. However, once the Egyptian armor left the cover of the infantry and the Sagger, they were defeated in head to head combat with Israeli armor using a variety of armored vehicles including the M48 and M60.
There were also a number of prototype upgrades evaluated in the U.S., which were passed over in favor of simply producing more M1 Abrams. Due to the end of the Cold War, surplus US Army M1 tanks were absorbed into the remaining USMC units allowing the Marine Corps to transition to in all M1 tank force at reduced cost.
The M60A3 participated in CAS trials with the F-16 in the 1980s.
![A 401st TFW (P) M60 seen at Doha, Qatar during the 1991 Gulf War. [1]](Image:M60qatar.jpg)
Actual Patton tanks appeared in many U.S. films made after WWII, and became the stereotypical image of the Cold War U.S. tank. Ironically, in many American films Patton tanks are used to portray better enemy tanks.
An M60A1 was also involved in a police chase, when one was stolen by Shawn Nelson from an Army National Guard armory and taken on a rampage through San Diego, California. The driver was killed by police when he refused to surrender after the tank got stuck on concrete freeway dividers. News footage of this incident has been shown numerous times on World\'s Wildest Police Videos and other such programs.
M60A3 TTS main battle tank of the Turkish Army at the IDEF\'07 Show, Ankara, Turkey.
A remotely controlled Panther armored mine clearing vehicle leads a column down a road in Bosnia and Herzegovina, May 16, 1996.
Additional equipment:
Magach 7C in Yad la-Shiryon museum, Israel.
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