| M60 Patton | |
|---|---|
M60A3 |
|
| Type | Main battle tank |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1961–1997 (USA) |
| Used by | See Operators |
| Wars | Yom Kippur War Iran–Iraq War Operation Desert Storm Western Sahara War |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, Chrysler |
| Produced | 1960–1987 |
| Number built | Over 15,000 (all variants) |
| Variants | See Variants |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | M60: 50.7 short tons (46.0 t; 45.3 long tons) M60A1: 52 to 54 short tons (47 to 49 t; 46 to 48 long tons) depending on turret design. |
| Length | M60: 6.946 meters (22 ft 9.5 in) (hull), 9.309 meters (30 ft 6.5 in) (gun forward)[1] |
| Width | M60: 3.631 meters (11 ft 11.0 in)[1] |
| Height | M60: 3.213 meters (10 ft 6.5 in)[1] |
| Crew | 4 |
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|
| Armor | 6.125 in (155.6 mm) |
| Main armament |
105 mm (4.1 in) M68 gun (M60/A1/A3) 152 mm (6.0 in) M162 Gun/Launcher (M60A2) |
| Secondary armament |
.50 cal (12.7 mm) M85 7.62 mm M73 machine gun |
| Engine | Continental AVDS-1790-2 V12, air-cooled Twin-turbo diesel engine 750 bhp (560 kW)[1] |
| Power/weight | 15.08 bhp/t[1] |
| Transmission | General Motors, cross-drive, single-stage with 2 forward and 1 reverse ranges[1] |
| Suspension | Torsion bar suspension |
| Ground clearance | 0.463 meters (1 ft 6.2 in)[1] |
| Fuel capacity | 1,457 liters (320 imp gal; 385 U.S. gal)[1] |
| Operational range |
300 miles (500 km)[1] |
| Speed | 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) (road}[1] |
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The 105 mm Gun Full Tracked Combat Tank, M60, also known unofficially as the M60 Patton,[2] is a first-generation main battle tank (MBT)[3] introduced in December 1960.[4] It was widely used by the U.S. and its Cold War allies, especially those in NATO, and remains in service throughout the world today despite being superseded by the M1 Abrams in the U.S. military. Egypt is currently the largest operator with 1,700 upgraded M60A3s, Turkey is second with more than 900 upgraded units in service, and Israel is third with over 700 units of Israeli variants.
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Although developed from the M48 Patton, another interim until replaced by the M60, the M60 series was never officially classified as a Patton tank, but as a "product improved descendant" of the Patton series of tanks.[5] On 16 March 1959, the OTCM (Ordnance Technical Committee Minutes) #37002 standardized the vehicle as the 105 mm Gun Full Tracked Combat Tank M60.[6] With the US Army's deactivation of their last (M103) heavy tank battalion, the M60 became the Army's first main battle tank[7] during the Cold War.
The M60 traces its roots to the late WWII-era M26 Pershing heavy tank from which the M48 was developed. In 1957, plans were laid in the US for a tank with a 105 mm main gun and a redesigned hull offering better armor protection.
The resulting M60 series largely resembles the M48 it was based on, but has significant differences. The M60 mounted a bore evacuated 105 mm main gun, compared with the M48's 90 mm, had a hull with a straight front slope where as the M48's hull was rounded, had three support rollers per side to the M48's five, and had road wheels constructed from aluminum rather than steel.
The improved design incorporated a Continental V-12 750 hp air-cooled, twin-turbocharged diesel engine, extending operational range to over 300 miles (480 km) while reducing both refueling and servicing. Power was transmitted to a final drive through a cross drive transmission a combined transmission, differential, steering, and braking unit.
The hull of the M60 was a single piece steel casting divided into three compartments, with the driver in front, fighting compartment in the middle and engine at the rear.[8] The driver looked through three M27 day periscopes, one of which could be replaced by an infrared night vision periscope.[8] Initially, the M60 had essentially the same turret shape as the M48, but this was subsequently replaced with a distinctive "needlenose" design that minimized frontal cross-section to enemy fire.
The M60 was the last U.S. main battle tank to utilize homogeneous steel armor for protection. It was also the last to feature an escape hatch under the hull.
Originally designated the M68, the new vehicle was put into production in 1959, reclassified as the M60, and entered service in 1960. Over 15,000 M60s (all variants) were constructed.
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.
The M60A2 was a stop-gap solution until the projected replacement by the MBT-70.[9] The M60A2, nicknamed the "Starship"[10] due to its Space Age like 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 featured a 152 mm main gun similar to that of the M551 Sheridan light tank, which fired conventional rounds as well as the Shillelagh anti-tank missile system. The fitting of a CBSS (closed breech scavenger system), which used pressurized air to clear the breech after each shot, solved the problem of 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 way for future tanks; the MBT-70, which relied on much of this technology as it was used in the M60A2, never advanced beyond prototype stage though. 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 armored vehicle-launched bridge (AVLB) vehicles.[10]
In 1978, work began on the M60A3 variant. It featured a number of technological enhancements, including smoke dischargers, a new flash-lamp pumped ruby-laser based rangefinder (AN/VVG-2) that could be used by both commander and gunner, and an M21 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 1997,[11] but it remained a front-line MBT into the 21st century for a number of other countries.
While overall a considerably less effective tank than the M1 Abrams, the M60A3 did have some limited advantages over some M1 models:
An M60A3 TTS was involved in a civilian police chase in 1995, when one was stolen by Shawn Nelson from a California Army National Guard armory and taken on a rampage through San Diego, California. Nelson was killed by police when he refused to surrender after the tank became stuck on concrete freeway dividers. News footage of this incident has been shown numerous times on World's Wildest Police Videos and other similar programs.
The M60-based AVLB and the M728 CEV were the only variants of the M60 deployed to South Vietnam. The Armored Vehicle Launch Bridge, commonly referred to as the "Bridge tank" was mounted on an M60 tank hull, and the M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle was an M60 tank mounting a short-tubed 165 mm main gun that fired a shaped charge.[10]
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. 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 reserve units.
The M60A1 RISE Passive of the U.S. Marines saw action during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, opposing Iraqi armor which included the T-54/T-59, T-55, T-62, Type 69, and T-72. The M60A1s were fitted with add-on explosive reactive armor (ERA) packages and supported the drive into Kuwait City where they were involved in a two day tank battle at the Kuwait airport with only one vehicle damaged beyond repair and no crew casualties. They saw service with the United States Marine Corps and the Saudi Arabian Army.
As of 2005, M60 variants are in service with Bahrain, Bosnia, Brazil, Egypt, Greece, Iran, Israel, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, Taiwan, Thailand, Jordan, and some other nations to varying degrees. The US continues to have significant stockpiles of M60s waiting to be scrapped, sold-off, converted, or used as targets in weapons testing. Some vehicles that use the chassis are still in use, however. Most of the M60s 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. Jordan for example, is modifying two battalions of M60A3 with the IFCS system.
Overall, the M60A1/A3s performed well against opposing tanks such as T-55s, T-62s, T-72s and Type 69s in various conflicts including the Yom Kippur war, Lebanon and the battle for the Kuwait airport that involved hundreds of tanks in a two day, all out battle. The Marine Corps M60A1s had ERA that helped to protect them, and the Iraqi tank crews were not well trained and were using older T-55s and T-62s. 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. Once the Egyptian armor left the cover of the anti-air umbrella, it sustained heavy losses to the Israeli Air Force, before it was defeated by dug-in Israeli tanks in defensive positions on 14 October. In the 1982 Lebanon war Israeli M60A1s saw success against Syrian T-55, T-62 and even the new T-72, which the Soviets designed to defeat the M60. On 10 June 1982 Israeli tanks south of Beirut encountered 400 Syrian tanks and by the end of the two-day battle the Syrian tank force was defeated. Israeli M60A1s counted for many kills on Syrian T-72s during the battle.
In Israeli service, the type is highly regarded and has been updated through the years.
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 M1s were absorbed into the remaining USMC units, allowing the Marine Corps to transition to an all M1 tank force at reduced cost. Except for a few in active service most were placed in reserve, or some to be sold to US allies.
The M60A3 participated in close air support trials with the F-16 in the 1980s. M60A1s are still used by the USAF for testing of ground radar equipment on new aircraft and for ground force adversarial work at Red Flag at Nellis AFB Nevada.
During the 1991 Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) at least one US Air Force unit was equipped with M60s. The 401st TFW (P), deployed to Doha, Qatar had two M60s intended for use by explosives ordnance disposal personnel. It was planned that using the MBTs would allow the EOD crews to remove unexploded ordnance from tarmac runway and taxiway surfaces with increased safety.[12]
Additional equipment: