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M60A2

M60 Patton
American M60A3 tank Lake Charles, Louisiana April 2005.jpg
An M60A3 Patton on display in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in April 2005.
Type Main battle tank
Place of origin United States
Service history
In service 1961–present
Used by See Operators
Wars Yom Kippur War
Iran–Iraq War
Beirut, Lebanon
Invasion of Grenada
Persian Gulf War
Restore Hope, Somalia
Western Sahara War
Houthi insurgency in Yemen
Turkey–PKK conflict
Sinai insurgency
Yemeni Civil War (2015)Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen
Syrian civil war
Production history
Manufacturer Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, Chrysler
Produced 1960–87
No. 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)
Width M60: 3.631 meters (11 ft 11.0 in)
Height M60: 3.213 meters (10 ft 6.5 in)
Crew 4

Armor Upper Glacis
M60: 3.67 in (93 mm) at 65°
8.68 in (220 mm) LoS
M60A1: 4.29 in (109 mm) at 65°
10.15 in (258 mm) LoS
M60A2: same as M60A1
M60A3: same as M60A1
Turret Front
M60: equals 7 in (180 mm)
M60A1: equals 10 in (250 mm)
M60A2: equals 11.5 in (290 mm)
M60A3: same as M60A1
Main
armament
105 mm (4.1 in) M68 gun (M60/A1/A3)
152 mm (6.0 in) M162 Gun/Launcher (M60A2)
Secondary
armament
.50 BMG (12.7×99mm) M85
7.62×51mm NATO M73 machine gun
Engine Continental AVDS-1790-2 V12, air-cooled Twin-turbo diesel engine
750 bhp (560 kW)
Power/weight 15.08 bhp/st (12.4 kW/tonne)
Transmission General Motors, cross-drive, single-stage with 2 forward and 1 reverse ranges
Suspension Torsion bar suspension
Ground clearance 1 foot 6.2 inches (0.463 m)
Fuel capacity 385 U.S. gallons (1,457 L)
Operational
range
300 miles (500 km)
Speed 30 mph (48 km/h) (road)

The M60 Patton is a main battle tank (MBT) introduced in December 1960. With the United States Army's deactivation of their last (M103) heavy tank battalion in 1963, the M60 became the Army's primary tank during the Cold War. Although developed from the M48 Patton, the M60 series was never officially classified as a Patton tank, but as a "product-improved descendant" of the Patton series. In March 1959, the tank was officially standardized as the 105 mm Gun Full Tracked Combat Tank M60.

The M60 underwent many updates over its service life. The interior layout, based on the design of the M48, provided ample room for updates and improvements, extending the vehicle's service life for over four decades. 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 having been superseded by the M1 Abrams in the U.S. military. Egypt is currently the largest operator with 1,716 upgraded M60A3s, Turkey is second with 866 upgraded units in service, and Israel is third with over 700 units of Israeli variants.

During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, a Soviet T-54A medium tank was driven onto the grounds of the British embassy in Budapest by the Hungarians. After a brief examination of this tank's armor and 100 mm gun, British officials decided that their 20 pounder was apparently incapable of defeating it. There were also rumors of an even larger 115 mm gun in the works. Hence there was a need to adopt a 105 mm gun, which emerged as the famed Royal Ordnance L7. This information made its way to the United States, where the Army had been experimenting with a series of upgrades to their M48 Patton tanks. These experiments were concerned with improving the armor and the introduction of a variety of autoloader systems, such as that used in the 105 mm gun tank T54, and upgraded rangefinders.


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