On 9 August 1945, as agreed by the Allies at the Yalta Conference, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and advanced into Korea. Over this period North Korea has moved from being an operator of Soviet-designed and produced tanks to being the manufacturer of its own tanks. As had reported last year, a large portion of Turkey’s tank force consists of the M60, with more than 1,000 still in service but efforts have been made to improve on the original design.The history and development of the tank in North Korea spans the period from their adoption after World War II with the foundation of the Korean People's Army, into the Cold War and the present. As of last year the M60 is still in active service with some 17 nations around the world – a testament to the robustness of the basic design.Įgypt maintains one of the largest fleets of M60s – and has some 300 M60A1 and 850 M60A3 variants still in service, while Saudi Arabia has nearly 400 in service.Įven as Ankara has plans in the works to introduce its more modern, domestically-produced Altay main battle tank, the Cold War era M60 will likely remain in service for years to come. The platform, which was originally produced in 1959 as a stopgap to address improvements in Soviet tank design, has certainly proven to be far more than a just a stopgap.

While that M60 won’t likely see combat ever again – there are still plenty of operational M60s that have been upgraded and stand ready to head off into battle. The M60 had previously been on display for more than two decades at the recently shuttered Howe Military Academy, and it fittingly joined the park’s two M3A3 Lee World War II era tanks already on display. The Cold War behemoth, along with a pair of naval guns, was donated to the park last year.

The M60 Tank: A 3 Minute History – In the summer of 2020, an M60 Patton tank rolled off a trailer and took its place of honor at Wayne County Veterans Memorial Park in Richmond, Indiana.

Us poar war main battle tank