Posted on 04/10/2010 9:42:17 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
From old to new. As the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) recently announced, a joint programme with Turkey to refurbish ageing M60A1 main battle tanks has been completed this week. Within the framework of an agreement worth nearly $700 million and signed in March 2002, the programme has been carried out by the Turkish Defence Ministry and the Israeli companies, Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) and Elbit Systems. Since the beginning of the programme, some 170 40-year old M60A1’s, which are part of a significant fleet of tanks of this type bought from US surplus, have received extensive upgrades to the Sabra Mk.II standard and are now designated as M60T. According to the IDF statement, these upgrades provide the tanks with the capabilities to keep up with the most advanced tanks in the world.
The upgrade kits, provided by Israeli-based Israel Military Industries (IMI), include the integration of state of the art weapons systems that combine fire power, sensors and additional capabilities and protection. As the IDF explains: “The eight-year long project, which has been deemed extremely successful, replaced all major systems of the original tank with advanced modern systems. 120 mm cannon control systems, enhanced fire power, advanced turret moving, protection systems, engine transmission changes and other major improvements were made on the tanks. The end result is a high performance tank that is in line with the world’s leading combat tanks.”
(Excerpt) Read more at defpro.com ...
Interesting article. The Israelis have had a lot of experience breathing new life into old tank designs, so this will probably work out well for the Turks. I do find it interesting that the Sabra Mk2 is keeping the M85 .50 cal on the cupola. From what I’ve read, the M85 is a pain in the neck compared to the M2 .50 in terms of reliability, etc. (former tankers out there, feel free to correct me if I am in error). Other than that, though, looks like a solid upgrade package.
The really interesting thing to see will be when they roll out the Altay MBT that’s in the works. The design pics I’ve seen look really sweet.
Hummous extractor comes standard
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