page_title: M60 tank
section_title: M60A3 series
hierarchical_section_title: M60 tank / Development / M60A3 series
caption_attribution_description: Two M-60A3 main battle tanks move along a road during Central Guardian, a phase of Exercise Reforger '85. Location: Giessen, Germany.
context_page_description: The M60, sometimes referred to as the M60 Patton, is an American second generation main battle tank. It was officially standardized as the Tank, Combat, Full Tracked: 105-mm Gun, M60 in March 1959. Although developed from the M48 Patton, the M60 series was never officially classified as a member of the Patton tank family, but as a "product-improved descendant" of the Patton tank's design. The United States fully committed to the MBT doctrine in 1963 when the Marine Corps retired the last heavy tank battalion. The M60 tank series became America's primary main battle tank during the Cold War. Over 15,000 M60s were built by Chrysler. Hull production ended in 1983, but 5,400 older models were converted to the M60A3 variant ending in 1990.
  It reached operational capability with fielding to US Army units in Europe beginning in December 1960. The first combat usage of the M60 was with Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War where it saw service under the "Magach 6" designation, performing well in combat against comparable tanks such as the T-62.
context_section_description: Development
  Due to the rapidly developing advancements in anti-armor capabilities and solid state electronics of the 1970s, along with the general dissatisfaction of the M60A2, an upgrade of the M60A1 was needed. In 1976 work began on the M60A3 variant which featured a number of technological enhancements and increasing the turret armor.
  Features
  The M60A3 version of the M60-series had the same mobility, performance, and weapons systems as the M60A1 RISE and RISE Passive tanks and incorporated all of their engineering upgrades, improvements and capabilities. In addition, the armor protection for the turret was increased to 330 mm on the gun mantle and to 276 mm on the turret face.  The electronics and fire control systems were greatly improved. The hydraulic fluid was replaced with a non-flammable one. This updated turret configuration was mated to the M60A1 RISE hull using the AVDS-1790-2D RISE engine and CD-850-6A transmission along with a Halon fire suppression system. It was designated as the Tank, Combat, Full Tracked: 105-mm Gun, M60A3.
  The M60A3 tank was built in two configurations. The earlier version, sometimes referred to as the M60A3 Passive, uses the same passive gunner's sight as the A1 RISE Passive and the latest version has a Tank Thermal Sight (TTS). The M60A1, RISE, and RISE Passive tanks used a coincidence rangefinder and the mechanical M19 ballistic computer. The M60A3 uses a laser based rangefinder and the solid state M21 ballistic computer. The M21 FCS for the M60A3 was made up of a Raytheon AN/VVS2 flash-lamp pumped ruby-laser based range finder, accurate up to 5000 meters for both the commander and gunner, a solid-state M21E1 gun data computer incorporating a muzzle reference sensor and crosswind sensor, ammunition selection, range correction and superelevation correction were inputted by the gunner, an improved turret stabilization system along with an upgraded turret electrical system and solid-state analog data card bus. The M10A2E3 ballistic drive is an electro-mechanical unit. The commander had an M36E1 passive periscope and the gunner an M32E1 passive sight.  The TTS configuration replaced the gunner's sight with the Raytheon AN/VSG2 Tank Thermal Sight (TTS), a Mercury-Cadmium-Telluride (HgCdTe) IR detector. This sight allows the gunner to see through fog, smoke and under starlight conditions without the aid of an IR searchlight. This system provided improved first round hit capabilities.
  The first M60A3s were assembled at the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant in February 1978 where the first of a low-rate of initial production quantity of 296 M60A3s were produced through October with fielding to Army units in Europe starting in May 1979. The M60A3 was seen by the US Army as a stop-gap measure as the development of the XM1 Abrams MBT was already well advanced with fielding to Europe planned to start in 1981 and notified FMS customers of its near-term plans to discontinue M60-series tank production. In 1982 General Dynamics Land Systems Division purchased Chrysler Defense. The procurement of the M60A3 and M60A3 TTS tanks for the Army concluded and hull production ceased in May 1983 with a total of 1,052 M60A3 and TTS tanks built as new vehicles. Additionally the Detroit Tank Plant was closed with production of the M1A1 Abrams commencing at the Lima Tank Plant in Ohio. However the conversion of earlier models to M60A3/E60B tanks continued for Foreign Military Sales (FMS) with the last tanks delivered to Israel in May 1986 and a conversion total of 3,268 E60Bs. These late-production examples were upgraded from existing surplus inventories of M60A1 RISE tanks. The Army also increased its M60A3 TTS fleet through the M60A1 tank conversion program and the M60A3 tank field retrofit program conducted by the Anniston Army Depot and the Mainz Army Depot (MZAD). Depot field teams retrofitted all of the Army's 748 M60A3 tanks to the TTS configuration by the end of 1984. In addition, both depots converted a total of 1,391 M60A1 RISE tanks to the M60A3 TTS. These M60A1 Hull/Turret PIP conversion programs concluded
caption: Two M60A3TTSs of the US Army near Giessen, West Germany 1985
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