M-60 Specifications
- The M60 tank was the United States' predominate battle tank for 20 years.Tank image by Arven from Fotolia.com
The M60 main battle tank, part of the Patton tank series, was put into service in 1961, replacing the M47 and M48 tanks. More than 15,000 M60 tanks were built by Chrysler before it was replaced by the M1 Abrams tank in 1980. The M60A2 variant was produced beginning in 1974 and the M60A3 began production in 1979. - The M60 has a 12-cylinder air-cooled 750 horsepower Continental AVDS-1700 diesel engine. The transmission is a Detroit Diesel Allison CD850, which has two forward speeds and one reverse speed. The tank has a fuel capacity of 375 gallons with a range of 310 miles. Maximum speed traveling on a road is 30 miles per hour (mph) and the maximum reverse speed is 5 mph. It has a ground clearance of 16 inches.
- The M60, M60A1 and M60A2 have a cast steel hull and turret. The M60A3 has a cast steel hull and turret, and Kevlar lining in the turret. All variants have gas particulate filtration to protect from air hazards such as chemical weapons. The M60A1 has an engine smoke generator to provide a smoke screen for tactical protection. The M1A2 and M1A3 have an engine smoke generator and have smoke grenade launchers.
- The M60, M60A1 and M60A3 have a 105 millimeter (mm) M68 manually-loaded rifled main gun, a 7.62mm M73 machine gun mounted on the turret and a .50 caliber M85 machine gun mounted on the cupola. The main gun on the M60A2 is a 152mm M160 gun-launcher, which allows the tank to fire high-explosive and high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) rounds, and Shillelagh guided missiles. The M60 and M60A1 use a stereoscopic or coincidence stereoscopic rangefinder. The M60A3 has a tank thermal sight (TTS), a solid-state ballistic computer and a laser rangefinder.
- The M60 tank is 30.5 feet long, 11.9 feet wide and 10.5 feet high. It weighs 50.5 tons. The M60A1 and M60A3 are 31 feet long, 11.9 feet wide and 10.5 feet high. The M60A1 weighs 57.6 tons while the M60A3 weighs 57 tons. The M60A2 is 24.1 feet long, 11.9 feet wide and 10.5 feet high and weighs 57 tons. All variants of the tank have a crew of four, with a commander, driver, gunner and loader.
