![]() Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, M60A1 production was carried out at a fairly low rate, just to keep the production line open. It carried 63 rounds of main gun ammunition as opposed to 60 for the M60. The M60A1 has essentially the same chassis as the M60, but had a redesigned 'needle nose' turret with greater ballistic protection and a number of internal modifications. The tank entered service with the US Army in 1960 and from 1962 it was succeeded in production by the M60A1 (development designation M60E1). Subsequent production buys, starting with the October 1960 batch were built at the Detroit Tank Plant. In August 1959, an engineering bid package was released for the second production buy of M60s to be built at the Delaware Plant. There were many small improvements over the whole of the vehicle, the most notable being the use of new flat rolled-plate glacis armour, the fitting of the new, larger M19 cupola and a change in the appearance of the road wheels and mudguard line. Of course the production M60 was more than just a rearmed and re-engined M48. ![]() ![]() The production contract went out to tender in April 1959 and was placed with the Chrysler Corporation, Delaware Defense Plant, in June of that year for the production of 180 M60s. This tank was designated the XM60 for trials purposes and three M48s were rebuilt to this standard and tested at the Yuma Test Station, Fort Churchill, Fort Knox and the Elgin Air Force Base climatic hanger. The new 105mm M68 gun was installed in an M48A2 turret and with diesel engine technology having come far since the end of the Second World War, it was decided to install an AVDS-1790-2 diesel engine. At about the same time, the US had decided to upgrade the current in service tank, the M48. ![]() The US tested the L7 tank gun and after deciding it was superior to any of the experimental weapons then in development, fitted a new breech to it and designated it the M68. ![]() The result was the L7 105mm rifled tank gun. In 1956, British Intelligence had acquired detailed information about the Soviet T-54 MBT and the British had decided to develop a new tank gun that was better capable of defeating this opponent. ![]()
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