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Crime Against
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17 August 2001 M60/M1 hybrid tank to make debut in Turkey CHRISTOPHER F FOSS JDW Land Forces EditorLondon
prototype is en route to Turkey for its first public appearance. The first potential customer for the tank is Turkey. (Source: GDLS/Jane's) General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) rolled out a fully functional prototype of its 120S main battle tank (MBT) at its Detroit facility in early August. This is now en route to Turkey and will make its first public appearance at the IDEF Exhibition in September. The M60-2000 MBT has been marketed for several years and a number of countries in NATO and the Middle East were briefed on the vehicle (Jane's Defence Weekly 29 July 1998). Following customer feedback, detailed engineering work was carried out and last December GDLS decided to build a functional prototype. The first potential customer is Turkey. The 120 in the designation represents the 120mm smoothbore gun and the S stands for speed and survivability. The M60 part of the earlier designation is no longer considered relevant as so much of the MBT is new. The tank looks similar to the M1A1 Abrams. GDLS, the design authority for the M60 series, has considerable experience in upgrading this and other MBTs for export as well as the transferring tank technology abroad. The M60 chassis and the M1A1 turret have been leased from the US Army for the 120S programme. Henry Umanos, director international business development at GDLS, believes that the 120S is a highly cost-effective upgrade for the older M60 "with all parts in the US Army inventory". The 120S MBT is essentially a combat-proven M1A1 turret installed on an upgraded M60 series chassis. This is armed with a 120mm M256 smoothbore gun with a 7.62mm M240 co-axial machine gun. The commander has a 12.7mm M2 machine gun while the loader has a 7.62mm M240 machine gun. The computerised fire-control system enables targets to be engaged while the 120S is moving during day and night conditions. The M60 chassis has been fitted with the enhanced torsion bar system of the M1 series to take the additional weight of the M1A1 turret as well as the extra armour that would be fitted to production vehicles. The upper part of the suspension is fitted with new ballistic skirts and new stowage is provided to give a much smoother outline. If required, hydropneumatic suspension could also be fitted. The fully functional prototype of the 120S retains the standard M60 series power pack, consisting of an AVDS-1790 series diesel engine developing 750bhp coupled to an Allison automatic transmission. Other more powerful power pack options are available, including a 1,200hp version. The existing M60 chassis has not been fitted with additional armour as this depends on the user's operational requirement.
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