Fort Carson Cav Squadron Is Last to Live-Fire M60A3 Tank

Soldlers of 2d Squadron, 7th Cavalry, were the last active Army unit to live-fire the M60A3 tank recently as the unit prepared to transition to M2 and M3 Bradley Fighting Vehicles. The changeover is the latest step in the modernization of the 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Carson. The division recently traded in Rs Improved TOW Vehicles and M113 APCs for Bradleys. The M60A3 was the most recent version of a main battle tank that had been the Army’s frontline standard since the Vietnam era. The first tank in the M60 series developed from the 90-mm-gun M48 of the 19508, with the substitution of the 105-mm gun, a license-built British design, in an improved hull. The M60A1 saw the passing of the M48’s dome-like turret in favor of the more wedge-shaped M60 turret so familiar today. The M60A2 was an unusual excursion, an attempt to replace a high-pressure tank gun with a gun-missile system. Reliability problems plagued this design, and the tank was issued only to units in Germany. The short, 152-mm gun tube on the A2 was capable of firing both fixed ammunition rounds and the Shillelagh missile. With the introduction of the A3 version, the M60 reverted to a 105- mm tank gun, with laser rangefinder and tank thermal sight., I. 4 ARMOR -