Famous Cold-War-Era M60 Patton Tank Now a “Target” For Weapons Practice

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

(Washington D.C.) As a 50-ton Cold War relic, the M60-Patton Main Battle tank now operates as a “target” for weapons and radar training, after serving with distinction for many years.The M60 tank, which was an upgraded variant of the M48 Patton tank, was not officially a Patton tank but came to be regarded as part of the Patton family.

The M60 Over the Years

The M60 was retired from combat following its performance in the Gulf War in 1991, ended service with the National Guard in 1997, and stopped being used for training in 2005. Although roughly 20 tons less than a 70-ton Abrams tank, the M60 was not faster or more maneuverable.

The M60 fired a 105mm cannon at a rate of seven rounds per minute, a lethal rate of fire for the Cold War era. The tank has been in service around the world with U.S. allies for many decades in places such as Egypt, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, among others.

While retired and ultimately out-performed and replaced by the Abrams main battle tank, the M60 fuselage and engineering have inspired subsequent armored designs for “bridge vehicles, recovery vehicles and combat engineering platforms.”

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An interesting 1998 paper from the Armor Magazine, Army’s Fort Benning, Ga. titled “American Tank Development,” explains that the M60 came to life during the Korean War when the Pentagon realized its tank force size and quality may be outmatched by the Soviet Union. The article says the Army built 2,205 M60s, after connecting a 105mm gun with an AVDS-2 diesel engine from an M-48.