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The turret and armament on this vehicle appears similar to that of the M48A5 tank, but the hull is noticeably different. The front hull is wedge-shaped and straight as opposed to M48's rounded bow. The road wheels on the M60 are forged aluminum, and there are reinforcing struts running around the circumference of each wheel. M60 retained the idea of a very large cupola from the M48, and like in the older tank, the .50cal machine gun could be aimed, fired, and reloaded from under armor. (Picture courtesy Mark Holloway.)
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The shape of the elongated turret on this M60A1 is very different from rounded turret on the tank above. The 105mm gun has been moved forward, and the armor protection and ballistic shape was substantially improved from the old turret. This vehicle is also fitted with the aluminum wheels, but note the difference in the hull lifting eyes (horizontal versus vertical) compared with the above vehicle). Early hulls had three vertical lifting eyes, mid-production hulls had four horizontal lifting eyes, and late-production hulls were fitted with two horizontal lifting eyes. This tank is equipped with the AN/VSS-3A searchlight, which is plugged into the receptacle on the turret roof. The right-hand blister for the coincidence rangefinder is visible near the top of the turret just below the commander's cupola. Armored top-loading air cleaners are also visible on the rear fenders between the stowage boxes. This tank belonged to the 24th Infantry Division, and was taking part in Exercise GALLANT EAGLE '79 at Eglin Air Force Base. (Picture taken 25 Oct 1978 by SSGT Dwight A. Jackson; available from the Defense Visual Information Center.)
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This Marine tank is fitted with explosive reactive armor (ERA). These tiles are composed of explosive sandwiched between two steel plates. When struck by a high-explosive antitank (HEAT) shell or missile, the HEAT penetrator detonates the explosive, sending the plates in opposite directions. This action destabilizes the HEAT penetrator, making it less effective at penetrating the tank's armor. This tank was participating in the US/Thai exercise THALAY THAI '89. (Picture taken 1 Sep 1989; available from the Defense Visual Information Center.)
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This early-production M60A2 retains the bore evacuator on the 152mm gun-launcher. Details of the suspension, such as the aluminum road wheels and friction snubbers on the first two and last road wheels, are also visible. A 2.2kw AN/VSS-1 xenon searchlight is mounted on the turret's left side, in front of the loader's hatch.
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The narrow cross-section of the turret can be glimpsed here. The upper part of the turret was not much wider than the gun mount, and the turret widens near the base for the gunner's and loader's stations. The service headlights and infrared headlights are obvious; above these in both headlight groups is a blackout driving light, and below them is a blackout marker light. The mounting locations for the driver's three M27 periscopes are visible in the upper hull, and the exhaust for the personnel heater can be seen running from the right side of the hull roof to the tank's right fender. This vehicle is running on the T142 track with replaceable rubber pads.
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M60A2 possessed a new commander's cupola, which is illustrated here. His M51 periscope is mounted at the top of the cupola, and the circular mount for the .50cal machine gun is offset to the right. Both cupola and turret were stabilized in azimuth and elevation. The gunner's M51 periscope is visible on top of his hatch on the turret's low right side. A tow cable is stowed on the side of the turret, and a stowage basket rings the turret rear.
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The loader had a hatch on the left side of the turret, and an M37 periscope was installed in it. Ammunition was uploaded through the loader's hatch. A tow cable is again present, and details of the xenon searchlight mount and wiring can be seen here.
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The bore evacuator on the 152mm gun-launcher is apparent, positioned about halfway down the short gun tube. The housing above the gun was for the Shillelagh missile's infrared transmitter. The gunner's telescope is visible, and under the padlocked cover above the telescope is the aperture for the tank's laser rangefinder. The external triggers for the tank's fire extinguishers are visible under the guard on the hull front slope.
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The M60A2 gunner's controls are shown here. His handles are obvious in the middle of the image, and to the left is his panel and computer control unit. The M126 telescope is above the gunner's panel, and his periscope XM50 is to the right of his handles. The ammunition box in the center of the turret floor was used to stow eight conventional rounds.
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This view is up into the commander's cupola. The microphone and intercom control box are visible on the turret wall, and the cupola traverse mechanism is behind the TC's left shoulder.
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This is the gunner's laser ranging control unit, which allowed him to select which laser return the computer used as the basis for a target's range. It is located just to the right of his periscope.
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This view is looking across the turret to the loader's position. Stowage for the firing circuit tester, gunner's quadrant, and spare lamp are labeled, and the loader's panel is mounted on the left turret wall. The breech of the 152mm gun-launcher is on the right of the picture.
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This view highlights the commander's panel on the left side of his cupola. The knobs and toggle switches on the panel perform functions related to target designation and gun stabilization. His handles are visible in the bottom of the image, and the browpad for his M51 periscope is above the handles.
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The right side of the commander's cupola is shown here. The M19 ballistic computer control unit is in the center of the image, and this allowed the TC to adjust for crosswind speed, cant, parallax, ammunition type, gun jump, and drift. Some of the eleven vision blocks ringing the base of the cupola are visible, and the M51 periscope is on the left of the image.
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This tank is externally similar to the M60A1 above. Friction snubbers on the first two and last road wheels are obvious. The front road wheel arm was equipped with double bump stops, compared to single bump stops on the other wheels. The mounts for the bump stops can be seen behind the road wheels. The exhaust pipe for the personnel heater can be seen in front of the forward fender stoawge box, and a triangular mount for a smoke grenade launcher assembly is visible on the forward turret below the grab handle.
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The forged aluminum wheel on the right is easily contrasted with the steel wheel on the left. Although significantly lighter than the steel wheels, the aluminum wheels required steel wear plates to protect them from the track center guides, and the steel wheels were cheaper to manufacture. The mounting for the road wheel swing arms are obvious, as are the mounts for the bump stop springs behind each road wheel.
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The linkage for the adjustable compensating idler wheel is shown here. The rubber pads on the T142 track are secured by a bolt that goes through the track block.
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This view of the driver's hatch shows the mounts for the periscopes around his position, as well as for the night vision device in the hatch door itself. This hatch had originally been designed for the infrared periscope M24, but was then modified to accept the AN/VVS-2 passive viewer.
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The right side of the turret was home to the commander's cupola and the gunner's periscope sight. The round aperture for the commander's M85 machine gun is visible in the cupola's front, and a periscope guard is present on top of the cupola. Mounted just beside the gunner's periscope is a deflector that, when swung to the vertical position, was meant to prevent the commander's machine gun from firing down onto the gun shield-mounted searchlight. The rounded top to the gunner's periscope guard indicates that this tank is equipped with the AN/VSG-2 tank thermal sight. Non-TTS tanks (like the M60A1 above) had a flat-topped periscope guard.
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The loader had his own hatch in the left side of the turret roof, and an M37 periscope was provided in his hatch door. The flexible base of the crosswind sensor is visible on the rear of the turret, and hidden from view behind the commander's cupola is a turret ventilator. The left-side rangefinder blister is empty since the laser rangefinder only occupied the opposite blister.
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The protective flap on this blister would open when the laser rangefinder was in use. An armored fender-mounted air cleaner is visible behind the rangefinder blister between the fender stowage boxes.
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The travel lock for the tank's 105mm gun was placed on the covering for the insulated exhaust tunnel. The tunnel was lined on both sides by air intake louvres for the engine. A wire stowage basket is present on the rear of the turret.
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© Copyright 2001-07 Chris Conners