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1/35 - Diorama "Patton M60A3"
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 thru 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 (verses 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 bore evacuater 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.
History
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 an escape hatch under the hull, as the M1 Abrams that replaced it lacked sufficient ground clearance.
M60A3 Patton
An M-60A3 main battle tank moves along a street in Germany during Exercise Reforger \"85.
An M-60A3 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:
* The M60A3 had a notably better passive infrared scope than that of M1 up into the 21st century, until many M1 had newer ones installed.
* The M60A3 had an exterior phone for infantry to talk directly to the crew inside. This feature was also installed on some USMC M1A1s in Iraq and is now being incorporated into all active Abrams.
* The diesel had lower performance, but also had lower cost, maintenance and better fuel efficiency.
* The exhaust temperature of a M1 is very high, which makes it dangerous for infantry to take cover behind it than on a M60A3.
* The escape hatch located under the hull of the M60A3 is not present in the M1 Abrams (due to insufficient ground clearance under the hull), making it more difficult for the crew to bail out of a battle-damaged Abrams than a Patton.
Service history
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 a M60 Patton tank hull, and the Combat Engineer Vehicle was a 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.
Marines from Company D, 2nd Tank Battalion, drive their M60A1 main battle tank over a sand berm on Hill 231 while rehearsing their role as part of Task Force Breach Alpha during the Gulf War. The tank is fitted with reactive armor and an M-9 bulldozer kit.
Marines from Company D, 2nd Tank Battalion, drive their M60A1 main battle tank over a sand berm on Hill 231 while rehearsing their role as part of Task Force Breach Alpha during the Gulf War. The tank is fitted with reactive armor and an M-9 bulldozer kit.
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, 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 older opposing tanks in various conflicts including T-55s, T-62s and T-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 1 vehicle lost on the US side. It must be said that the Marine Corp M60A1s had ERA that helped protect them. 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.
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 some American films Patton tanks are used to portray 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.
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