M60 Patton
In service 1960 - in service today (foreign, upgraded)
Based onM48 Patton (successor to)
America's first true main battle tank, holding the NATO line for two decades before the Abrams arrived.
Built byChrysler / Detroit Arsenal
Development history
The M60 took the M48 hull to its logical conclusion with a diesel engine for range, the L7-derived 105 mm gun and a redesigned needle-nosed hull. The A1 brought a new turret shape and the A3 added thermal sights, a laser rangefinder and a solid-state computer. Israeli Magach M60s fought hard in 1973 and in Lebanon, where reactive armour and blow-out fixes addressed its vulnerable hydraulic fluid and ammunition stowage.
Photo gallery
Period photographs with source and licence details.
Variants
One canonical record, 5 recorded variants.
M60
1960M48-style rounded turret with the 105 mm M68 and diesel engine.
M60A1
1962Needle-nose turret, better armour, improved stabilisation.
M60A2 Starship
1974152 mm gun-launcher firing Shillelagh missiles; unsuccessful.
M60A3 TTS
1979Laser rangefinder, solid-state ballistic computer, thermal sight.
Magach 6 / Sabra
1980sIsraeli upgrades with reactive armour, 120 mm gun on later Sabra.
Notable actions
- Yom Kippur War (1973)
- Lebanon War (1982)
- Gulf War (1991)
- Syrian civil war spillover (2010s, Turkish use)