M60 tank
American second generation main battle tank
Summary
The M60 is an American second-generation main battle tank (MBT). 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 tank series was never officially christened as a Patton tank. It has been called a "product-improved descendant" of the Patton tank's design. The design similarities are evident comparing the original version of the M60 and the M48A2. The United States fully committed to the MBT doctrine in 1963, when the Marine Corps retired the last (M103) heavy tank battalion. The M60 tank series became the American primary main battle tank during the Cold War, reaching a production total of 15,000 M60s. Hull production ended in 1983, but 5,400 older models were converted to the M60A3 variant ending in 1990.
Originally created by RadicalBender
2/15/2004, 5:17:57 AM
Modified
6/8/2026, 7:08:20 AM
Recent revisions
/* Former operators */
clarified conversions of M60a3 tanks
/* Former operators */
/* Former operators */ removed erroneous and duplicated information
corrected production timeframe
Noted late conversion of M60A1 tanks for foreign military sales
/* Current operators */ moved United States to former operators
Add Use American English per [[MOS:TIES]]
Moved M60T main gun info from M60 template to the M60T article
/* M19 commander's cupola */ removed duplicate entry
/* Current operators */
clean up, [[WP:AWB/T|typo(s) fixed]]: mid 1990s → mid-1990s, ’s → 's (2)
Removing [[:c:File:M60A3_Patton_tank_at_Huntsville_H.E.A.R.T.S_veteran_museum.jpg|M60A3_Patton_tank_at_Huntsville_H.E.A.R.T.S_veteran_museum.jpg]]; it has been deleted from Commons by [[:c:User:Krd|Krd]] because: No license since 3 March 2026.
mantlet canvas changed to canvas mantlet
Undid revision [[Special:Diff/1342434488|1342434488]] by [[Special:Contributions/~2026-14949-74|~2026-14949-74]] ([[User talk:~2026-14949-74|talk]]) - unsourced changes
