M60-2000

The General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) M60-2000 or 120S was an upgrade developed for the M60 tank. The development of the M60-2000 was initiated primarily due to the large number of M60 main battle tanks in service with many Middle Eastern nations unable to afford a sufficient force of more modern main battle tanks. The upgrade was marketed at those M60 users with the industrial capability to convert the tanks themselves. The M60-2000/120S was a GDLS supplied conversion kit that married the turret of the M1A1 variant of the M1 Abrams to the M60A1 hull of the M60, offering many features of the M1A1 Abrams to existing M60 users at a reduced cost.

==Development== It was first referred to the M60-2000 Program and design work began in late 1999 by General Dynamics Land Systems as a private venture for the export market and was never evaluated for US military service. Later the M60 designation was dropped because of the extensive changes and to highlight this as a new vehicle to potential customers thus changing the name to the 120S Project. The 120 represented the gun, and S according to company marketing stood for Speed and Survivability. Two of the major upgrades this would offer to the M60 series of the vehicle. It is essentially a hybrid vehicle consisting of an M1A1 version of the Abrams tank turret mated to a M60A1 hull. The M60-2000 was test-marketed during 2000 and a number of countries in NATO and the Middle East were briefed on the vehicle. Following customer feedback, detailed engineering work was carried out and in December GDLS decided to build a functional prototype. In August 2001 the company rolled out the fully functional prototype of the 120S tank at their Detroit, Michigan, facility. The prototype was shown at the IDEF Exhibition held in Turkey in October 2001.