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Tanks in the Cold War

A US Army M60A3 main battle tank moves along a street in Germany during Exercise REFORGER '85

The M26 Pershing, one of the US tanks designed near the end of
World War II and used during the Cold War.

During the Cold War (19451990), the two opposing


forces in Europe were the Warsaw Pact countries on the
one side, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) countries on the other side. The Warsaw Pact
was seen by the West as having an aggressive force outnumbering the NATO forces.

planners believed that the tank was obsolete, now that


nuclear weapons were on the scene and it was felt that a
tactical nuclear weapon could destroy any brigade or regiment, whether it was armoured or not. The Korean War
proved that tanks were still useful on the battleeld, given
the hesitation of the great powers to use nuclear weapons.
In the 1950s, many nations tanks were equipped with
NBC protection, allowing mechanized units to defend
against nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, or to
conduct breakthroughs by exploiting battleeld nuclear
strikes.

Soviet domination of the Warsaw Pact led to eective


standardization on a few tank designs. In comparison,
NATO adopted a defensive posture. The major contributing nations, France, Germany, the USA, and the UK
developed their own tank designs, with little in common,
while the smaller nations of NATO purchased or adapted
these designs.

1 Development of the main battle


tank

After World War II, tank development continued largely


as it had been because of the Cold War. Tanks would
not only continue to be produced in huge numbers, but
the technology advanced dramatically as well. Tanks became larger and their armour became thicker and much
more eective. Aspects of gun technology changed signicantly as well, with big advances in shell design and
terminal eectiveness. However, nowadays most tanks in
service still have manually breech-loaded guns, a trait of
the earliest tanks which is shared with most self-propelled
and eld guns.
Many of the changes in tank design have been renements
to targeting and ranging (re control), gun stabilisation,
communications and crew comfort. Armour has evolved
to keep pace with improvements in weaponry, and guns
have grown bigger. But there have been no fundamental
changes.

British Centurion Mk 3 main battle tank at Eastbourne Redoubt

The design and budgeting of tanks has known severe ups


and downs. Right after the war, tank design budgets were Medium tanks gradually evolved into the new concept of
cut and engineering sta was often scattered. Many war the main battle tank. This transition happened gradually
1

2
in the 1950s, as it was realized that medium tanks could
carry guns (such as the US 90 mm, Soviet 100 mm, and
especially the British 105 mm) that could penetrate any
practical level of armor at long range. The World War
II concept of heavy tanks, armed with the most powerful
guns and heaviest armor, became obsolete since they were
just as vulnerable as other vehicles to the new medium
tanks. Likewise, World War II had shown that lightly
armed, lightly armored tanks were of little value in most
roles. Even reconnaissance vehicles shown a trend towards heavier weight and greater repower during World
War II; speed was not a substitute for armor and repower.

3 HEAVY TANKS
'Universal tank', lling almost all battleeld roles. Typical main battle tanks were as well armed as any other vehicle on the battleeld, highly mobile, and well armored.
Yet they were cheap enough to be built in large numbers. The classic main battle tanks of the 1950s were
the British Centurion, the Soviet T-55 series, and the US
M47 and M48 series. These three basic vehicles were upgraded signicantly over time. For example, the Centurion began life with the highly eective 17-pounder (76.2
mm) gun, but was upgraded to 20 pounder (84 mm) and
then 105 mm main armament by 1959, with improved
re control and new engines.
The Russian T-55 started with a 100 mm gun, but has
been upgraded with both 115 mm and 125 mm guns,
much improved re control systems, new engines, track,
etc. The M47 series evolved through to the M60 series.The rst Soviet main battle tank was the T-64[2] while
the rst American MBT was the M48 Patton.[3]
These vehicles and their derivatives formed the bulk
of the armored forces of NATO and the Warsaw Pact
throughout the Cold War. Some of them remain in use in
the 21st century.

2 Light tanks
M48 Patton

Swimming Polish PT-76s.

Light tanks continued to be built, but for very limited roles such as amphibious reconnaissance, support of
Airborne units, and in rapid intervention forces which
were not expected to face enemy tanks. The Soviet PT76 is a good example of a specialized light tank. It is
amphibious and has the repower to kill other reconnaissance vehicles, but it is very lightly armored. The US
M551 Sheridan had similar strengths and weaknesses, but
could also be airdropped, either by parachute or LAPES.

3 Heavy tanks
Heavy tanks such as the T-10 continued to be developed
and elded along with medium tanks until the 1960s and
1970s, when the development of anti-tank guided misAn increasing variety of anti-tank weapons and the per- siles and powerful tank guns rendered them ineective in
ceived threat of a nuclear war prioritized the need for ad- their role.
ditional armor. The additional armor prompted the de- The combination of large HEAT warheads, with a long
sign of even more powerful cannons.[1] The main battle eective range relative to a tank gun, and with high accutank thus took on the role the British had once called the racy meant that heavy tanks could no longer function in
T-72B with thick Dolly Parton composite armor on the turret
front

3
combined-arms tactics. This led to greater mechanization
of Infantry and advanced artillery tactics and warheads.
Tanks alone were vulnerable to Infantry, but a combined
team of tanks, mechanized Infantry, and mechanized artillery could still win in the new environment.
In 1974, the United States initiated an impressive programme to modernise its existing tank eet and start real
mass production of the M60A1, and later the M60A3; at
the same time the M1 was developed. Budgets for tank
design and production picked up during the administration of president Ronald Reagan, following tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.
An American M103A2 heavy tank at Bovington tank museum in
the UK

the stand-o, or overwatch role. Much cheaper antitank


guided missiles could ll this role just as well.
Medium tanks were just as vulnerable to the new missiles,
but could be elded in greater numbers and had higher
battleeld mobility. Furthermore, the value of light tanks
for scouting was diminished greatly by helicopters, although many light tanks continued to be elded.

In response to infantry-portable and vehicle-mounted


ATGMS, ever more capable vehicle armour were developed. Spaced armour, composite, explosive reactive armour, and active protection systemslike the Russian
Shtora, Drozd, and Arenawere added to old and new
tanks. Despite these improvements the larger missiles remained highly eective against tanks. This was demonstrated in 1991 when in a friendly re incident, Hellre
anti-tank missiles destroyed one of the latest M1 Abrams
tanks.

5 Missile armed tanks


4

The development of antitank


weapons and countermeasures

SS.11 anti-tank missile-launcher version of the French AMX-13.

During the latter half of the 20th century, some tanks


were armed with ATGMs (Anti-Tank Guided Missiles)
which could be launched through a smoothbore or (in the
An Israeli M60 Patton tank destroyed in the Yom Kippur War.
case of Shillelagh) a ried main gun barrel with a proThere was also talk that tanks were obsolete and bud- vision to prevent imparting spin to the missile. In the
gets decreased a bit after the Yom Kippur War of 1973 U.S., the M60A2, M551 Sheridan, and prototype MBTwhen Israeli tanks were destroyed in unheard of quantities 70, with 152 mm barrel/launchers used the Shillelagh
by man-portable wire guided missiles (ATGMs), red by infrared-guided missile.
Egyptian infantry. Subsequent analysis showed that Is- The MBT-70 was cancelled prior to production due to
raeli forces had underestimated their opponents during high cost, and superseded by the M1 Abrams, which
the rst phases of the war; their all-tank tactics ignored used a conventional gun. The M551 and the M60A2
the newfound ability of Infantry armed with cheap AT were widely considered disappointing due to problems of
weapons to stop tanks. The solution to this new battle- overall complexity, sensitive advanced electrical systems
eld environment was both tactical and technical. Tac- (some components of which involved the Shillelagh guidtically, there was renewed recognition for the need for ance system) and issues related to the conventional rounds

HISTORY IN THE COLD WAR

The U.S. M551 Sheridan was an amphibious air-mobile light


tank with a 152 mm gun/missile launcher.
Marine M26 Pershing tanks in Korea.

with combustible cases, though the Sheridan would serve


into the 1990s before nally being withdrawn. The
M60A2s were eventually replaced by M60A3s using
conventional 105 mm guns.
While U.S. experiments with gun-launched missiles led
to a dead end, the Soviet Union put this technology into
service in the mid-1970s, and it continues to be used in
CIS forces. Tanks capable of ring gun-launched missiles
in Russian service include the T-72, T-90, and upgraded
T-55 (T-55AM2). Ukraine also employs missile-armed
T-64, T-80, and T-84 tanks.

6
6.1

History in the Cold War


Korean War

USMC M46 Patton, 8 July 1952. Note the dierent rear plate
and twin fender-mounted exhausts.

The heavier but older M26 Pershing was deemed unsatisfactory due to its inferior mobility, which was unsuitable
for a medium tank role as it used the same engine that
powered the much lighter M4 Sherman, and in November, 1949, the upgraded M26 received a new power plant
and a main gun with bore evacuator, and the M46 Patton
designation. Less than a thousand were upgraded to M46
standard.

M24 Chaee

On 8 August 1950 the rst M46 Pattons landed in South


Korea. The tank proved superior to the much lighter
North Korean T-34-85, which were encountered in relatively small numbers. By the end of 1950, 200 M46
Pattons had been elded, forming about 15% of US tank
strength in Korea; the balance of 1,326 tanks shipped
to Korea during 1950 included 679 M4A3 Shermans,
309 M26 Pershings, and 138 M24 Chaee light tanks.[4]
Subsequent shipments of M46 and M46A1 Pattons allowed all remaining M26 Pershings to be withdrawn during 1951, and most Sherman equipped units were also
reequipped.[5]

In the Korean War M24 Chaees were the rst U.S.


tanks to ght the North Korean T-34-85s. The M24
fared poorly against these much better-armed and armored medium tanks which were superior to the M-24.
M24s were more successful later in the war in their reconnaissance role, supported by heavier tanks such as the
M4, M26, and M46.
By 1953 the M24 Chaees were completely replaced

6.2

Interwar

6.2 Interwar
The M47 Patton was intended to replace the M46 Patton
and M4 Sherman tanks. It had a 90 mm gun and a crew
of 5. Despite it being the primary tank of the US it never
saw combat while in US service. In Early 1951, the U.S.
initiated the design of the M48 Patton, designated the
T-48 with a 90 mm cannon.[8] The T48 featured a new
turret, new redesigned hull and an improved suspension.
The hull machine gunner position was removed, reducing the crew to 4. On 2 April 1953, the Ordnance Technical Committee Minutes (OTCM), standardized the last
of the Patton series tanks as the M48 Patton.
Nearly 12,000 M48s were built from 1952 to 1959. The
early designs, up to the M48A2, were powered by a gasoMarines of 1st Marine Division at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir
line 12-cylinder engine which was coupled with an auxsupported by M46 Patton tank.
iliary 8-cylinder engine. The gas engines gave the tank
a short operating range and were prone to catching re
when hit. This version was considered unreliable.
by the new M41 tank in the United States Army which
was rushed to the battleeld. It was later designated the
M41 Walker Bulldog. The M41 was an agile and well
armed. On the other hand, it was noisy, fuel-hungry and
heavy enough to cause problems with air transport. The
Walker Bulldog saw limited combat with the U.S. Army
during the Korean War, but the conict served as a testing ground to work out the tanks deciencies, especially
with its rangender.

M103 at Ft. Lewis

The M103 heavy tank was manufactured at the Detroit


Arsenal Tank Plant and the rst units were accepted in
1957.
M41 Walker Bulldog

British tanks, the Centurion tank with Cromwell tanks


for reconnaissance, arrived in Korea in late 1950. The
tanks had to operate in much colder conditions than their
usual North German Plain deployments. The Centurions covered the retreat at the battle of the Imjin River
with the tanks from C Squadron, 8th Hussars, under the
command of Major Henry Huth and by 55 Squadron,
Royal Engineers. The British position on the Imjin river
was deemed safe but vulnerable in case of an attack
which prove to be case,[6] and the tanks were able stand
their ground in the battle. The Centurions were also
in Operation Commando and were used to capture high
ground earning praise from the commander of I Corps.
Thereafter the war was largely static and the Centurions
were used as artillery against the infantry attacks which
generally happened at night.[7]

The M103 was designed to counter Soviet heavies. Its


long-ranged 120 mm cannon was designed to hit enemy
tanks at extreme distances, but it was never used in combat. Of the 300 M103s built, most went to the Marines.[9]
The tank was relatively underpowered and the drive systems were fragile.The turret of the M103 was larger than
that of the M48 or the M60 to make room for the huge
120 mm gun and the two loaders assigned to it, in addition to the gunner and the commander. The driver sat in
the hull. The gun was capable of elevation from +15 to
8 degrees.
The British introduced their Heavy Gun Tank F214 Conqueror with the same 120mm gun as the M103 into service in 1955. It stayed in service until 1960; the upgrading of Centurion tank to the L7 105mm gun having removed its purpose.
While the US Army deactivated its heavy armor units
with the reception of the new M60 series main battle

HISTORY IN THE COLD WAR

tanks in 1960, the remaining M103s stayed within the


US Marine Corps inventory until they began receiving the
M60 series MBT. With the disappearance of the heavy
tank from US forces came the full acceptance of the main
battle tank in 1960 for the US Army, and later for the US
Marine Corps.[10]
The British successor to Centurion was Chieftain in 1966.
Chieftain was heavily armoured and had a 120mm gun
following a doctrine of long range re and survivability
that would be needed against the more numerous Warsaw
Pact tanks in the event of an invasion of West Germany.

6.3

Vietnam War era

U.S. Marines riding atop an M48 tank, Vietnam, April 1968.

tral Highlands, and the 2-34th Armor near the Mekong


Delta. Each battalion consisted of approximately fty
seven tanks. M48s were also used by Armored Cavalry
Squadrons in Vietnam, until replaced by M551 Sheridan
tanks. The M67A1 amethrower tank (nicknamed the
Zippo) was an M48 variant used in Vietnam.

One of two PT-76s from the NVA 202nd Armored Regiment, destroyed by US M48 Pattons, from the 1/69th Armored battalion,
during the battle of Ben Het, March 3, 1969, Vietnam.[11]

Tanks for the most part, saw limited action in Vietnam


compare to the heavy ghting in Korea, but even in the
Vietnam jungle the M48 Patton saw tank-to-tank duels.
On March 3, 1969, the Special Forces camp at Ben Het
was attacked by the NVA 202nd Armored Regiment.
The 202nd was tasked with the mission of destroying the
camps 175 mm self-propelled guns.[12][13] One of the
PT-76s had detonated a land mine, which not only alerted
the camp, but also lit up the other PT-76s attacking the
rebase. Flares had been sent up, thus exposing adversary tanks, but sighting in on muzzle ashes, one PT-76
scored a direct hit on the turret of a M48, killing two
Patton crewmen and wounding two more. A second Patton, using the same technique, destroyed a PT-76 with
their second shot. At daybreak, the battleeld revealed
the wreckage of two PT-76s and one BTR-50 armored
personnel carrier.[12]

Marines of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, riding on


an M48A3 tank, Vietnam, 1966.

When US forces commenced redeployment operations,


many of the M48A3 Pattons were turned over to the
Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces, in particular creating the ARVN 20th Tank Regiment; which
supplemented their M41 Walker Bulldog units. During the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) Easter Oensive in 1972, tank clashes between NVA T-54/PT-76
and ARVN M48/M41 units became commonplace, but
on 23 April 1972, tankers of the 20th Tank Regiment
were attacked by an NVA infantry-tank team, which was
equipped with the new 9M14M Malyutka (NATO designation: Sagger) wire guided anti-tank missile. During
this battle, one M48A3 Patton tank and one M113 Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle (ACAV) were destroyed,
The M48s saw extensive action during the Vietnam War, becoming the rst losses to the Sagger missile; losses that
during the
over 600 Pattons would be deployed with US Forces would echo on an even larger scale a year later[12]
Yom
Kippur
War
in
the
Middle
East
in
1973.
[14]
The initial M48s landed with the
during the war.
US Marines in 1965.[12] Remaining Pattons deployed to In the mid-1970s, the M48A5 upgrade was developed to
South Vietnam were in three U.S. Army battalions, the 1- allow the vehicle to carry the heavier 105 mm gun. This
77th Armor near the DMZ, the 1-69th Armor in the Cen- was designed to bring the M48s up to speed with the M60

6.3

Vietnam War era

tanks then in regular use. Most of the M48s were placed the last US main battle tank to utilize homogeneous steel
into service with reserve units by this time. By the mid- armor for protection. It was also the last to feature either
1990s, the M48s were phased out.
the M60 machine gun or an escape hatch under the hull.
The M48s performed admirably[15] in Vietnam in the
infantry-support role. However, there were few actual
tank versus tank battles. The M48s provided adequate
protection for its crew from small arms, mines, and
rocket-propelled grenades.

Originally designated the M68, the new vehicle was put


into production in 1959, reclassied as the M60, and entered service in 1960. Over 15,000 M60s (all variants)
were constructed.
In 1963, the M60 was upgraded to the M60A1. This new
variant, which stayed in production until 1980, featured a
larger, better-shaped turret and improvements to the armor protection and shock absorbers. The M60A1 was
also equipped with a stabilization system for the main
gun. However, the M60A1 was still not able to re on
the move, as the system only kept the gun pointed in the
same general direction while the tank was traveling cross
country. It did however enable the coaxial machine gun
to be brought to bear while moving.

A USMC M67A2 Zippo in action near Da Nang, Vietnam.

XM551 Sheridan

M48A5 Patton with an M48A3 commanders cupola.

The plans were laid in the US in the late fties, for a tank
with a 105 mm main gun and a redesigned hull oering
better armor protection. The resulting M60 largely resembled the M48 it was based on, but has signicant differences. The M60 mounted a bore evacuated 105 mm
main gun, had a hull with a straight front slope whereas
the M48s hull was rounded, had three support rollers per
side to the M48s ve, and had road wheels constructed
from aluminum rather than steel.
The hull of the M60 was a single piece steel casting divided into three compartments, with the driver in
front, ghting compartment in the middle and engine at
the rear.[16] The driver looked through three M27 day
periscopes, one of which could be replaced by a night
vision periscope.[16] Initially, the M60 had essentially the
same turret shape as the M48, but this was subsequently
replaced with a distinctive needlenose design that minimized frontal cross-section to enemy re. The M60 was

The M551 Sheridan was initiated when the replacement


for the M41 Walker Bulldog, the T92 Light Tank, was
canceled.
The need for even lighter weight to make the tank transportable presented the design with a particularly dicult
problem; guns capable of defeating modern tanks at reasonable ranges were so large that they demanded a large
vehicle to carry them, so large that they couldn't be used
as a light tank. The use of HEAT rounds instead of conventional penetrating ammunition could address this, but
HEAT rounds work better at larger calibers. Gun weight
is typically the product of caliber and muzzle velocity,
so in the case of the XM551 they sacriced the muzzle
velocity, producing the low-velocity but relatively largecaliber 152 mm M81. HEAT rounds red by the M81
could defeat any contemporary tank at shorter ranges, but
its low velocity made it dicult to use at longer ranges,
especially against moving targets. The large low-velocity
gun was also ideal for infantry support, where higher performance anti-tank guns would often re right through
soft targets and their small-caliber guns left little room for
explosive ller. The M551 Sheridan tank would thus be

HISTORY IN THE COLD WAR

ideal for both direct re support as well as short-distance served in combination with ACAVs (M113s) as armored
anti-tank engagements.
cavalry units consisted of both M113s and M551s as part
The only niche where the M551 Sheridan was not ideal of their TO&E. Armor units consisted solely of tanks
was the medium and long-range anti-tank engagement. (minus headquarters company) and Mechanized Infantry
The muzzle velocity was so low that a HEAT round red units consisted solely of M113s. In this role the real probat longer ranges would have to be lofted, making aim- lem with the Sheridan was its limited ammunition load of
ing dicult, and the ight time would be so long that a only 20 rounds and 8 missiles (though M551s in Vietnam
moving target would be very dicult to hit. However, it service were not equipped with missiles or their guidance equipment, increasing the basic load of conventional
appeared there was a solution to this problem by equipping the tank with gun-red anti-tank missiles. For longer rounds).
range engagements a missile would be red instead of a
HEAT round, and although its velocity would also be relatively slow, the guidance system would make a hit highly
likely anyway. The M551 Sheridan appeared to oer the
best of both worlds; for infantry support the large calibre gun allowed it to re full-sized artillery rounds and
canister shot, while also giving it reasonable short-range
anti-tank performance from the same gun.

A common eld-modication was to mount a large steel


shield, known as an ACAV set (Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle), around the commanders 50-cal. (12.7
mm) gun, allowing it to be red with some level of protection. The driver has an unusual rotating hatch which has
vision blocks when rotated forward. Included with the set
was an extra layer of steel belly armor which was bolted
onto the vehicles bottom, although only covering from
The M551 Sheridan had a steel turret and aluminum hull. the front to halfway to the end, possibly due to weight
It was powered by a large diesel engine. The M551 thus reasons.
had excellent mobility, able to run at speeds up to 45 mph, A standard modication made during the mid-70s was
which at that time was unheard of for a tracked vehicle. the addition of the Cereal Bowl commanders cupola.
Swimming capability was provided by a otation screen. This mod came about due to the broken rib eect that
Production started on late July 1966, and entered service occurred when the Sheridan red conventional rounds,
in June 1967. More than 1,600 M551s were built be- the recoil would pitch the TC against the armor plating
tween 1966 and 1970. Total cost of the M551 program resulting in cracked ribs.
was $1.3 billion.
The vehicle proved to be very noisy and unreliable under combat conditions. The armor was thin enough that
it could be penetrated even by heavy machine gun rounds
as well as being highly vulnerable to mines. Firing the
gun would often adversely aect the delicate electronics,
which were at the early stages of transitioning to solid
state, so the missile and guidance system was omitted
from vehicles deployed to Vietnam. The gun had problems with cracks developing near the breech after repeated ring. Most eld units were modied to help address the problem but gun also was criticized for having
too much recoil for the vehicle weight, the second and
even third road wheels coming clear o the ground when
the main gun red.

6.4 Post-Vietnam
The US Army began to phase out the Sheridan in 1978,
although at the time there was no real replacement. Nevertheless, the 82nd Airborne were able to keep them on
until 1996. The Sheridan was the only air-deployable
tank in the inventory, and as an elite force they had considerably more pull than general infantry and armor
units who were forced to get rid of them. Their units
were later upgraded to the M551A1 model, including a
thermal sighting system for the commander and gunner.

The Sheridan saw extensive action in the Vietnam War,


being assigned to nearly all armored cavalry squadrons in
country. In 1969, armored cavalry units began replacing
their M48 Patton tanks.
The battle reports from the troops were sometimes glowing, while the reports higher up the chain of command
were often negative. A 1969 evaluation of the vehicles
found the M551 was employed in reconnaissance, night
patrol and road clearing, accumulating 39,455 road miles
A C-130 delivering an M551 Sheridan tank using LAPES (Low
and 520 combat missions, with a ready rate of 81.3 perAltitude Parachute Extraction System).
cent. Despite vulnerability to rockets and mines, it was
judged worth applying modications and equip all cavThe Sheridans only air drop in combat occurred duralry squadrons with the Sheridan.[17]
ing Operation Just Cause in Panama in 1989, when fourThe Sheridan was much appreciated by the infantry who teen M551s were deployed; four were transported by Cwere desperate for direct-re support, which generally 5 Galaxies and ten were dropped by air, but two Sheri-

6.4

Post-Vietnam

dans were destroyed upon landing.[18] The Sheridans performance received mixed reviews. They were lauded by
their operators and some commanders as providing repower in needed situations to destroy hard targets. However, the Sheridans employment of only HEAT rounds
limited their eectiveness against reinforced concrete
construction.
Fifty-one Sheridans were deployed in the Gulf War as
some of the rst tanks sent. They would not be very effective against the Russian-built T-72s. Their role was
limited by age and light armor to reconnaissance duties,
possibly 6 or less Shillelagh missiles were red[19] at Iraqi
bunkers, these fewer than a half-dozen missiles, were the
only time that the Shillelagh had been red in a combat
environment, from the inventory of the aforementioned
88,000 missiles produced.

9
as guided missiles.
The M60A2 proved a disappointment, though technical advancements would pave the way for future tanks.
The Shillelagh/M60A2 system was phased out from active units by 1981, and the turrets scrapped. Most of the
M60A2 tanks were rebuilt as M60A3.[20]
In 1978, work began on the M60A3 variant. It featured a
number of technological enhancements, including smoke
dischargers, a new rangender, and M21 ballistic computer, and a turret stabilization system. In addition it reverted to the 105 mm cannon. All active American M60s
eventually underwent the conversion to the A3 model.
The M60A3 was phased out of US service in 1997.[21]

Several attempts to upgun or replace the Sheridan have


been made, but none were successful. Several experimental versions of the Sheridan mounting a new turret
carrying a 105 mm gun were made, but the resulting recoil was too great. Several possible replacements for the
M551 were tested as a part of the XM8 Armored Gun
System and Expeditionary tank eorts of the early and
late 1980s respectively, but none of these entered service.
The Stryker Mobile Gun System has replaced the light
tank role of the United States.
An XM1 Abrams, during a demonstration at Fort Knox, Kentucky
in 1979.

The German Leopard tank, another 105mm armed tank,


was introduced in 1965. It was sold widely to several nations in NATO as well as worldwide. It was followed in
1979 by the Leopard 2 with a 120mm smoothbore gun.
In 1976, prototypes of a new tank which became the
M1 Abrams were delivered by Chrysler Defense and
General Motors armed with a 105 mm ried cannon. The
Chrysler Defense design was selected for development as
the M1. In 1979, General Dynamics Land Systems Division purchased Chrysler Defense. The M1 Abrams came
Marines from Company D, 2nd Tank Battalion, drive their
M60A1 main battle tank during a breach exercise in Operation from the diverted funds from the over budget and impracDesert Storm in 1991. The tank is tted with reactive armor and tical MBT-70 and XM815 projects.
an M-9 bulldozer kit.
The M1 was the rst of its kind. It feature a low prole turret and for the rst time ever on a tank, composite
During the 1960s, the US and West Germany entered Chobham armor. Despite all these advances, the Abrams
a joint project for a new tank common to both armies still retained the 4-man crew of the M60 Patton as the
and intended to enter service in the 1970s. The MBT-70 autoloader was considered unproven and risky. It was
project was technically advanced with sophisticated sus- armed with the same L7-derived 105mm gun as the M60.
pension, a low silhouette, spaced armor and advanced gun Over 3200 M1 Abrams were produced and rst entered
systems but suered from excessive costs and the Ger- US Army service in 1980. About 6,000 upgraded M1A1
mans pulled out of the project at the end of the decade.
Abrams were produced and used the German 120 mm
After Vietnam, the M60 Patton was upgraded and desig- smoothbore cannon, improved armor, and a CBRN pronated the M60A2. It featured an entirely new low-prole tection system.
turret with a commanders machine-gun cupola on top,
giving the commander a good view and eld of re while
under armor but spoiling the low prole. It also featured a
152 mm cannon, which red conventional rounds as well

As the Abrams entered service in the 1980s, they would


operate alongside M60A3 Patton. These exercises usually took place in Western Europe, especially West Germany, but also in some other countries like South Korea.

10

HISTORY IN THE COLD WAR

During such training, Abrams crews honed their skills


for use against the Soviet Union. However, by 1991 the
USSR had collapsed and the Abrams would have its trial
by re in the Middle East.

that Iraqi tanks could engage coalition tanks. Some Iraqi


crews even red training rounds at the U.S. and British
tanks. These rounds (purchased in great number during
the IranIraq War due to their inexpensive cost) had soft
The British FV4030/4 Challenger, continuing with a steel penetrators and thus no hope of penetrating the ad120mm ried gun for long range accuracy and the use of vanced Chobham Armour of the Coalition tanks.
widest type of rounds, and protected by Chobham armor In the Iraqi war in 2003, an Iraqi division the 6th
entered service in 1983.
Armored Division of the Iraqi Army.[22] which was
equipped with T-55s and BMP-1s defending the control
of key bridges over the Euphrates River and the Saddam
6.5 Gulf War/Iraq war
Canal at Nasiriyah, were decimated by US Marines with
M1 Abrams, and the division as a unit rendered incapable
for combat during the Battle of Nasiriyah in March 2003,
during the invasion.

US Army recognition poster of T-54/55 series tanks

In addition to the T-54/55 and T-62 tanks that Iraq had,


the most feared to US armoured forces were the T-72
tanks in the Iraqi forces. Only Republican Guard divisions were equipped with Iraqi-modied T-72s. Many
of the Iraqi T-72s were dug-in or hidden in groves, and
then used to ambush the US or British tanks. In the war,
the Iraqi T-72s were the preferred target for Apache helicopters and A-10s, in an attempt to diminish the combat
power of Republican Guard divisions. The only chance
for the Asad Babil T-72s against American tanks was to
lure them to close range combat, or trying to ambush
them from dug-in positions.[23]

The Gulf War saw the US Marines still deploying obsolete M60 Pattons while the rest of the tank forces had
Abrams. The Iraqi forces were initially regular army
units, equipped with tanks such as T-54/55 tanks and T62s. The Coalition main battle tanks, such as the U.S.
M1 Abrams, British Challenger 1, and Kuwaiti M-84AB
were vastly superior to the Chinese Type 69 and domestically built T-72 tanks used by the Iraqis, with crews better
trained and armoured doctrine better developed.

US M1 Abrams tanks from the 3rd Armored Division along the


Line of Departure.

The majority of Iraqi armored forces still used old Chinese Type 59s and Type 69s, Soviet-made T-55s from
the 1950s and 1960s, and some poor quality Asad Babil
tanks (domestically assembled tank based on Polish T-72
hulls with other parts of mixed origin). These machines
were not equipped with up-to-date equipment, such as
thermal sights or laser rangenders, and their eectiveness in modern combat was very limited.
The Iraqis failed to nd an eective countermeasure to
the thermal sights and sabot rounds used by Coalition armour. This equipment enabled them to engage and destroy Iraqi tanks from more than three times the range

An Asad Babil abandoned after facing the nal US thrust into


Baghdad

But even in those conditions, the M1s usually prevailed,


as proven in circumstances like the Battle of Baghdad,
and the drive to the capital, where dozens of Iraqi MBTs
were obliterated,[24] or near Mahmoudiyah, south of
Baghdad, April 3, 2003, (Iraqi Freedom) when US tanks
engaged their counterparts from just 50 yards, shattering
seven enemy T-72s without losses.[25] The Lion of Babylon T-72 was utterly outclassed by the M1 Abrams, the
Challenger and by any other contemporary Western main
battle tank during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[26]

11

See also
History of the tank
Tanks in World War I
Comparison of World War I tanks
Tanks of the interwar period
Tanks in World War II
Comparison of early World War II tanks
Post-Cold War Tanks

References

[20] Patton Mania M60


[21] Development and History of the M-60 tank
[22] RJ Lee, Key Components of the Iraqi Ground Forces,
2002
[23] Scales, page 269: As TF 1-37th Armor crossed over
the ridge into the heart of the Iraqi defensive zone, the
Iraqi commanders carefully disposed rear-slope defense
stripped Dyers tanks of their range advantage. Within
1,000 meters, a row of dug-in T-72s and BMPs suddenly
appeared below the crest. All were hull-down in prepared positions behind thick dirt walls (thus disproving
the much-quoted u.s. truism that soviet tanks had diculties in achieving 'hull down' position). Now the Americans were well within Iraqi killing range, and although the
Soviet-made night sights were markedly inferior, things
could still get very dicey.

[1] Front Cover Thomas W. Zarzecki (2002). Arms diusion: the spread of military innovations in the international
system. Psychology Press. p. 212. ISBN 0-415-93514-8.
Retrieved 5 April 2011.

[24] Scales, page 270: After the war they (TF 1-37th) returned to count the burned-out hulks of 76 T-72s, 84
BMPs, 3 air defense artillery pieces, 8 howitzers, 6 command vehicles, 2 engineer vehicles, and myriad of trucks.

[2] T-64 manual (" 64.


. 1984) state T-64
as main battle tank, while previous T-62 and T-55
(in corresponding military manuals, like " 62.
.
1968) stated as medium tanks

[25] Conroy & Mars, p. 158

[3] MIL-T-45308 state Tank, Main Battle, 105MM Gun,


M60, while MIL-T-45148 state TANK, COMBAT,
FULL-TRACKED, 90MM GUN, M48A2
[4] Steven J. Zaloga M26/M46 Pershing Tank 19431953
ISBN 1-84176-202-4 pp.39-40
[5] Donald W Boose Jr."US Army Forces in the Korean War
1950-53 ISBN 1-84176-621-6 pp.52,75-86
[6] Hastings 1987, p. 253.
[7] Centurion 1943-2003 p18-20
[8] Hunnicutt/p. 85 & 152
[9] Hunnicut/Firepower
[10] Hunnicutt
[11] Starry
[12] Dunstan
[13] Starry, p. 153
[14] Starry/Hunnicutt
[15] Nolan
[16] http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_
m60patton.html
[17] Washer evaluation 1969.
[18] Doyle, p. 44, 46
[19] Doyle, p. 4

[26] [Iraqi Army Tanks]. otvaga2004.narod.ru (in Russian). December 29, 2009.

12

9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1

Text

Tanks in the Cold War Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanks_in_the_Cold_War?oldid=736752639 Contributors: Geni, Mzajac, Martin Wisse, Alansohn, Catalan, GraemeLeggett, BD2412, MWAK, Ground Zero, MoRsE, Bgwhite, Noclador, Kirill Lokshin,
Joel7687, Duran, Nick-D, Yvwv, SmackBot, DMorpheus, Canthusus, Hmains, Chris the speller, Jprg1966, Vgy7ujm, CmdrObot, Monkeybait, Aldis90, Deathbunny, Matthew Proctor, Mr. Yooper, Dekimasu, CommonsDelinker, Hans Dunkelberg, Natg 19, Meters,
WereSpielChequers, PraetorianD, Lightmouse, Rocksanddirt, Ericwilliammarshall, One last pharaoh, Addbot, Kongr43gpen, Yobot,
Legobot II, AnomieBOT, Metalhead94, Midnite05, Mark Schierbecker, Bigrob10p, Phoenix and Winslow, Mztourist, John of Reading, Dewritech, Simbagraphix, Snotbot, Katangais, L'amateur d'aroplanes, Mogism, Head-it-behind, RotlinkBot, Jezzajomo, Monkbot,
SantiLak, T30 Tank Commander, Tikgeit and Anonymous: 34

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