World War II Origins

The story of the Patton tank began during World War II. The U.S. Army, seeking an eventual replacement for the now-famous M4 Sherman medium tank, came up with a new design, the M-26 Pershing. The M-26 was larger, better protected, and mounted a more powerful 90-millimeter main gun, but it was underpowered and suffered from reliability issues. The M-26 saw only limited service during the last days of the war, but went back into action in 1950 with U.S. forces based in Korea.

It was the Korean War that prompted the U.S. government to restart tank development. A slightly improved tank, the M-46 Patton was the first to use the Patton name, and was rushed into service. This was quickly followed by the M-47 Patton II, which used the same hull and main gun, but a new, larger turret, and an improved fire-control system. The M-47 also included an 18-inch Crouse-Hinds searchlight for night fighting. The M-47 served with both the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, and was exported widely, including to NATO allies and even Iran, which still uses them to this day.

The U.S. was locked in an arms race with the Soviet Union, and tank development could not remain stagnant. The development of a new tank was authorized just as the M-47 entered service. The new tank, M-48, used a new, larger hemispherical turret, a redesigned hull, and a lighter main gun with automatic elevation adjustment from the U.S. Army’s first tank ballistic computer. The M48 also included a new remote-controlled anti-aircraft machine gun mount at the tank commander’s station. The M-26, M-46, and M-48 all came into being in a span of less than 10 years.

The Patton Tank

In the mid-1950s, NATO intelligence learned of the Soviet T-55 tank, with its 100-millimeter D-10T main gun, larger in diameter and theoretically outgunning even the M-48. A new tank with stronger armor was required, as well as a new main gun that showed a marked improvement over the various 90-millimeter guns, all of which had roughly the same performance. The result was the M60 Patton, the Patton tank’s final form, which culminated in the 1970s with the M60A3.

The M60 series included the same hull, suspension, and Continental AVDS 1790 engine, but introduced some important new features. The dome-shaped turret was reshaped to include 65-degree sloping angles, increasing the effective thickness of the armor to incoming projectiles, while also increasing the likelihood of ricochets. A British-designed smoke-grenade launcher promised quick concealment from enemy gunners, while an air-filter system introduced with the M60A1 provided protection against nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.

The M60 also included a new gun—the 105-millimeter M68—that although U.S. officials only suspected it at the time, was later confirmed to be capable of defeating the armor of a T-55 (and its successor, the T-62). The M60A3 introduced a solid-state ballistic computer and laser rangefinder, the first deployed on American tanks. The ballistic data, including wind speed and direction data from a sensor mounted on the top of the turret, allowed the M60A3 to fire with exceptional accuracy. A late addition was a thermal sight, allowing the gunner to identify and fire on targets at night and through smoke screens—particularly enemy smoke screens.

Later Years and Combat Record

By 1990, the M60 had largely been removed from frontline U.S. Army service, replaced with the M1 and M1A1 Abrams series of tanks. Aside from a handful of M60-derived support vehicles sent to Vietnam, like the rest of the tank-oriented U.S. Army, it had lacked opportunities to see major combat. U.S. Marine Corps M60A1s participated in Operation Desert Storm, the liberation of Kuwait, engaging Iraqi forces, losing only two tanks damaged by mines. In one engagement, the 1st Marine Tank Battalion engaged Iraqi forces firing on an engineering unit. An official account of the 1st Marine Division exploits in the 1991 war described what happened next:

Corporal Duchoa Pham, the tank commander, destroyed an armored personnel carrier with two well-aimed shots. Corporal Pham explained, ‘I meant to hit the target with HE [high explosive] but was so excited that I forgot [and fired SABOT (an antitank round)]. The first round went right through the vehicle without damaging it. The second round must have hit something sensitive because the whole vehicle exploded with a flash.’

Today, no M60 tanks remain in service with the U.S. Army or Marine Corps, active or reserve.

Outside the U.S. military was a different story. The M60 saw major combat in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, as well as in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Iranian M60 tanks, which fought in the eight-year-long Iran-Iraq War, are still in service today. In recent years, Saudi M60s have been deployed to Yemen to suppress Houthi guerrillas, while Turkish M60s were sent on incursions into Syria to battle the Islamic State.

The imminent deployment of M60 Armored Vehicle Launched Bridges (AVLBs) as part of a $400 million military aid package to Ukraine is one exception. The M60 AVLB combines the hull of an M60 tank with a foldable, 18-meter-long bridge that can be emplaced in just a few minutes. The AVLB will allow advancing Ukrainian forces to quickly cross water obstacles, outmaneuvering Russian forces still operating many of the tanks and armored vehicles that were in service during the M60’s heyday.

Legacy and Impact

The Patton series of tanks were an example of an evolutionary progression in tank design. The tank arms race with the Soviet Union demanded large numbers of tanks, and the most efficient way to counter Soviet numerical superiority was to have as many tanks as possible, based on a proven design with new features introduced incrementally. The series started with the M-26 Pershing, and gradually—over five different designations—improved virtually every aspect of the tank’s design, including fire control, night vision, armament, and protection.

In 1980, the U.S. Army introduced a totally new tank, the M1 Abrams. The Abrams was faster, thanks to its 1,500-horsepower gas-turbine engine, better protected with British-designed Chobham and later depleted uranium armor, and included a new, highly effective ballistic fire-control system and thermal night vision. Initially, the main gun was the same 105-millimeter M68 gun used on the M60 series, but in the late 1980s, the M1A1 Abrams became the first in the series to use the larger, more powerful German-designed 120-millimeter M256 main gun.

Since its introduction, the M1 Abrams has arguably seen as many upgrades as the Patton series. Over the last 40 years, the M1 has received such upgrades as progressively better night fighting capability, a commander’s independent thermal viewer, battlefield networking, the ability to fire computer programmable shells, an auxiliary power unit, and more. While the M-26 Pershing and the M-60A3 bear a resemblance, but distinctly separate looks, the difference between the M1 Abrams and the latest version, the M1A2SepV3, is fairly minimal. This is due to many of the upgrades largely being electronic in nature and compact enough to fit inside the tank’s (relatively) roomy turret.

The Takeaway

The M60 series of tanks missed a lot of combat, particularly those that served in the U.S. Army. However, had they actually seen the combat they were designed for—against Soviet and Warsaw Pact tanks in Western Europe—the world would likely be a very different place today. As part of the U.S. Army in Europe, they formed a strong deterrent to Soviet attack, and in that sense, its performance with the home team was successful.

The Patton series of tanks debuted around 1950, meaning they’ve been in continuous service for 73 years. Their lack of expensive and relatively fragile electronics makes them easy to repair, especially for smaller countries. It is not inconceivable the M60 could roll on for another 27 years in a smaller army, like that of Lebanon, making it a century-old tank. Meanwhile, M60 AVLBs seem destined to march against their Cold War counterparts in Ukraine.

Not bad for a tank that left U.S. Army service in 1997.