The M60 tank occupies a special niche in the history of warfare, the symbol of one of the longest-producing armored fighting vehicles of the Cold War period. It filled the gap between the post–World War II Pattons and the revolutionary M1 Abrams, symbolizing change and continuity.
It rolled off production lines more than 15,000 times, and all of them stayed operational for more than forty years, a testament to its resilience and versatility.
Its heritage was from the M48 Patton, a reaction to hard-won lessons in Korea and increasing Cold War tensions. The M60 appeared in 1960 as a reaction to Soviet tanks. It rapidly became the backbone of the American and allied tank fleet, having more firepower and crew protection than anything built to that point.
The gun itself was the 105mm M68 rifled cannon, the American equivalent of the British L7, and a phenomenally accurate and reliable bit of kit. It was adopted as the NATO standard. The M60 replicated the mechanical pulse of the M48, but with a hinner turret construction and additional arm, and thus felt and looked just slightly different and more robust when hit.
By successive models, the M60 was refined year by year. The M60A1 boasted a larger turret and more spacious interior. The doomed M60A2 tried to fit a 152mm gun-launcher into its turret, a grand idea that never flew. Innovation waited until the late 1970s’ M60A3, which did away with brawn and began bringing in advanced targeting and night-fighting technologies.
With its thermal image sights, computer ballistic, and laser range finder, the M60A3 was able to read and shoot in weather that would have been irrelevant for tanks before. They gave their crews confidence in rainy and gloomy weather and at day and night. Other amenities such as smoke dischargers, NBC protection, and fire-suppression automatics gave levels of protection to onboard personnel.
While never deployed to Vietnam, the M60 was employed elsewhere with blinding success. Israelis utilized it in the 1973 Yom Kippur War against Soviet-equipped T-62s with very successful results. Ten years later, in the Lebanon War, explosive reactive armor was employed to neutralize the threat of then-modern anti-tank missiles.
The tank’s most prominent recent association with US troops was the 1991 Gulf War. US Marines sent forward uparmed M60A1s, equipped with reactive armor and improved vision, to break through Iraqi lines and into Kuwait City. While the new Abrams were available, the M60 had its job cut out when it was called upon.
Beyond U.S. usage, the M60 spread globally. Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and Israel became reliant upon it, often adapting the tank to their needs. Iran, which bought M60A1s in the 1960s, still adapts it with better optics, stabilization, and increased armor, demonstrating the design’s versatility.
Its influence carried on even to its M1 Abrams replacement. Much of the electronics and sight technology tested on the M60 fueled the Abrams’ advanced systems, including composite armor and thermal sight. To an undeniable degree, the M60 was not just a front-line tank, but a proving ground for future armor warfare.
Even to this day, years after its induction, the M60 is still not outdated on the battlefield. Still maintained in functional shape and constantly updated, it is still in use by most nations, a testament to good design’s endurance. Durable, resilient, and versatile in so many different applications, the M60 is one of the superior Cold War engineering products—and one legacy that can be observed to this day in modern armor.