30 Facts About M60 tank

1.

The M60 tank series became America's primary main battle tank during the Cold War, reaching a production total of 15,000 M60s.

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2.

M60 tank reached operational capability upon fielding to US Army European units beginning in December 1960.

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3.

The M60 tank saw use in 1983 during Operation Urgent Fury, supporting US Marines in an amphibious assault on Grenada.

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4.

The M60 tank's hull was the basis for a wide variety of prototype, utility and support vehicles such as armored recovery vehicles, bridge layers and combat engineering vehicles.

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5.

The M48 Patton M60 tank entered US service in 1952 but its early designs were deemed unsatisfactory by Army Field Forces.

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6.

The M60 tank continued further development through 1955 in conjunction with its simultaneous mass production.

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7.

The M60 tank hull had a straight slope and beak compared to the earlier M48's rounded one.

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8.

M60 tank-series went through a progressive turret design scheme during its production life with four different turrets being manufactured for the M60 tank-series.

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9.

The T95E5 turret used on the M60 tank was hemispherically shaped and bore a strong resemblance to the M48 Patton.

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10.

Concept of the medium M60 tank gradually evolved into the main battle M60 tank in the 1960s.

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11.

The original variant of the M60 tank series fulfilled the definition of a late first generation MBT sometimes being referred to as an intermediate second generation design.

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12.

Course of the M48 Patton's M60 tank production was the source of widespread Congressional debate.

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13.

Correctly predicting that Congress would not approve the procurement of the M48A2 after the fiscal year 1959, the Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics proposed a M60 tank based on the M48A2 featuring improved firepower and the AVDS-1790 engine.

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14.

Electronics package on the M60 tank was essentially the same as used on the M48A2C including an improved turret control system and an all-metric measurement M16 Fire Control System, The M16 FCS consists of a new M10 ballistic drive and mechanical M16E1 gun data computer which integrated barrel temperature data with an M17 coincidence range finder.

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15.

M60 tank was deployed to West Germany to counter the threat presented from the T-54s and T-55s of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact as well as to South Korea but was never sent to South Vietnam mainly due to unfavorable terrain and the general lack of significant numbers of North Vietnamese armor.

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16.

The M60A1 RISE Passive tank uses the M68E1 variant of the gun carried in the M140 mount.

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17.

The M60 tank was superseded in ARNG service by the M1 version of the Abrams tank beginning in 1990.

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18.

The average price was US$212,898 per M60 tank as is, without radios or machine guns and they were not mechanically overhauled.

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19.

An additional inventory of tanks from the CONUS M60 fleet were available at the same unit price for other approved purchasers.

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20.

In 2005, M60 tank variants were in service with Egypt, Greece, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Taiwan and some 20 other nations to varying degrees.

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21.

Torsion bar suspension system of the M60 tank was replaced with a hydropneumatic suspension system developed by the National Waterlift Company as seen on the HIMAG, General Motors XM1, and the Jordanian Centurion.

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22.

The overall failure of the Super M60 tank program was likely due to the lack of immediate necessity for such a vehicle.

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23.

Later the M60 tank designation was dropped because of the extensive changes and to highlight this as a new vehicle to potential customers thus changing the name to the 120S Project.

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24.

The M60 tank-2000 was test-marketed during 2000 and a number of countries in NATO and the Middle East were briefed on the vehicle.

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25.

M60 tank rolled out the proof of concept prototype of the 120S tank at their Detroit, Michigan, facility in August 2001.

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26.

Armor improvements include a whole new passive protection suite fitted around the M60 tank's existing cast armor turret and hull that is claimed to meet STANAG Level 6 standards.

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27.

Fifteen of the early examples of the M60 produced had insufficient hull armor thickness, and were therefore used by the Armor School at Fort Knox to train tank crewmembers and maintenance personnel.

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28.

The M60 tank was deployed to Korea to support US Forces Korea and participated in bi-annual Exercise Team Spirit maneuvers with South Korea notably with the US 2nd Infantry Division until 1991.

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29.

The Marine M60 tank crews faced sporadic resistance, knocking out a BRDM-2 armored car.

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30.

One MCRS missed a mine, which blew apart a track of the M60 tank pushing it, immobilizing the M60 tank and blocking the lane.

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