Lebanese M60's

[ShermanWasRight]

Due to some scholastic reading program thingy, we get free copies of the weekday New York Times here at NKU. I was reading today's copy at breakfast when I came across this, in a story about US support for the Lebanese Military:



I'm guessing this is an A3, if only because the story says it was recently supplied, but I defer to you guys for positive ID.

[C_Sherman]

Hi,

Well, several of the visible ID features are not visible or are obscured.

- It does have the SG launchers, which is not definitive but does indicate that it might be an A3.
- The crosswind sensor on the turret isn't there, but neither is an antenna, so it may not be installed yet.
- The gun tube appears to have a thermal jacket on it, but it's kind of tough to tell from this angle.
- The LRF door is out of sight on the far side of the turret, so no joy there.
- It does appear to have the armored air cleaners, but one would expect that anything after about 1980 would.

I would agree with M60A3, mostly because of the timing and the SGLs. I doubt that we would supply M60A1s, when it is likely that the alternative for Lebanon would be Russian T72s with all of the later improvements. So, I'm going with M60A3.

I'll bet that there is someone here who knows for sure, without even needing to look at the picture...

Chuck

[Joe_D]

M60A3, sorta, not exactly what the US used but it happens when you have to maintain a fleet of tanks for FMS that have been officially out of the system for a while.

Cap welded over the searchlight receptacle makes her an A3. She's got an M1 thermal shroud and am willing to bet the tube is an M68A1 with the MRS bevels ground into the muzzle (M1 gun tube).



Can anyone spot the other, more significant anomaly ?

[Smashy]

- Joe_D

Can anyone spot the other, more significant anomaly ?

You mean apart from the fact it obviously came from Jordan via KADBB?

Or do you mean the gunners sight hood?

[bsmart]

Is the MG in the commanders cupola the normal one. something doesn't look 'right' where the barrel enters the cupola

[Buq-Buq]

Bob:

That's the blade of the chopper in the background.




Mark

[bsmart]

- Buq-Buq

Bob:

That's the blade of the chopper in the background.




Mark

Duh I think you're right. I noticed the chopper blade over the rear deck but didn't extend the line forward. I need a better monitor to see the details better (Think my wife will accept that excuse for a new one )