In 1982, the Israelis again used the M60 during the 1982 Lebanon War, equipped with upgrades such as explosive reactive armor to defend against guided missiles that proved very effective at destroying tanks.

The United States' largest deployment of M60s was in the 1991 Gulf War, where the US Marines equipped with M60A1s effectively defeated Iraqi armored forces, including T-72 tanks.

M60-series vehicles continue in front-line service with a number of countries' militaries, though most of these have been highly modified and had their firepower, mobility, and protection upgraded to increase their combat effectiveness on the modern battlefield.

The United States entered a period of frenzied activity during the crisis atmosphere of the Korean War, when America seemed to lag behind the Soviet Union in terms of tank quality and quantity.

[18] This new tank design incorporated many Army Combat Vehicle (ARCOVE) committee improvements to the M48A2, chiefly the use of diesel engines to increase its operational range and the use of a more powerful main gun.

The hull bottom had a strong boat-like appearance with a pronounced recess between the upper tracks and external suspension arms and one shock absorber on the first roadwheel pair.

The M60A1 hull has basically the same visual characteristics, the noticeable difference was the addition of a second shock absorber at the second roadwheel pair and was also accompanied by a slight relocation of the first return roller.

The commander was able to observe the battlefield using the x4 binocular M34D daylight vision block or the M19E1 IR or M36 Passive periscopes while remaining under armor protection with a 360 degree traverse independent of the turret,[40] was stabilized in azimuth and elevation[41] and carried 600 rounds of ammunition.

The X-shaped motor and electro-optical rangefinder were both discarded due to performance, and the accuracy of the smoothbore gun and its high velocity APDS ammunition continued to be unsatisfactory.

Correctly predicting that Congress would not approve the procurement of the M48A2 after the fiscal year 1959, the Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics (DCSLOG) proposed a tank based on the M48A2 featuring improved firepower and the AVDS-1790 engine.

[15] The original variant of the M60 series ultimately was produced as a quick fix engineering (QFE) upgrade of the M48 due to the Soviet Union's tank advancements of the late 1950s and the delays from developing the silicas armor and an improved turret design.

A mushroom-shaped fume extractor was placed at the rear left of the turret bustle to vent smoke produced from firing the main or coax guns out of the vehicle.

[26] As the development of a new main battle tank stalled with problems and cost escalating quickly, the M60A1 was forced to serve longer than originally intended with production lasting almost 20 years.

During the early 1960s there was some debate regarding the future of main tank weaponry, largely focusing on conventional kinetic energy rounds versus missiles.

During the early testing of the XM81 main gun it was noted that misfires and premature detonations of the M409 conventional case ammunition were caused by unburnt propellant in the bore and breech.

[74] The XM81 Gun/Launcher also experienced frequent faulty breeches,[b] often not closing correctly during a missile firing, allowing the exhaust of the launching Shillelagh to vent hot noxious gases into the crew compartment.

The M51 MGS consisted of an infrared (IR) direct beam guidance and control system to track the missile mounted to the turret over the mantel of the gun[81] with a telescopic sight and a Raytheon AN/WG-1 Flashlamp Pumped, Ruby Laser range finder,[82][83] accurate to 4,000 meters,[79] for the gunner.

[51] The M21 FCS for the M60A3 was made up of a Raytheon AN/WG-2 flash-lamp pumped ruby-laser based range finder, accurate up to 5000 meters for both the commander and gunner, a solid-state M21E1 gun data computer incorporating a muzzle reference sensor and crosswind sensor, ammunition selection, range correction and superelevation correction were inputted by the gunner, an improved turret stabilization system along with an upgraded turret electrical system and solid-state analog data card bus.

[51] The first M60A3s were assembled at the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant in February 1978,[51] where the first of a low-rate of initial production quantity of 296 M60A3s were produced through October with fielding to Army units in Europe starting in May 1979.

Some of the modifications included removal of the M19 cupola, different models of machine guns, electronics, fire control systems or radios, external armor plates, smoke launchers and power packs.

[100] The M60A4 was the proposed upgrade of the M60A3 TTS for the National Guard that emerged from the M60AX study conducted by the ARNG Tracked Vehicle Task Force[98] with a projected cost of $750,000 per tank.

Survivability upgrades included both appliqué and wraparound armor, internal spall liners, laser protection, an automatic fire suppression system, an engine smoke generation kit and a new low-profile cupola.

While the market for M60 modernization is somewhat limited, because the tank is generally operated by poorer countries or has been relegated to secondary tasks, other companies have come up with more advanced Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) upgrade solutions.

[99] Although the US Army chose not to adopt the installation of a new power pack or suspension system in the M60 series, General Dynamics formed a co-operative private venture with Teledyne Continental to develop a comprehensive upgrade package.

Testing conducted not only showed that the new suspension system smoothened the off-road ride, but also allowed the Super M60 to handle well in spite of its considerable weight increase over the original M60A1.

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.

The system consists of an eye safe laser rangefinder, second generation night sight, digital ballistic computer, cant sensors and a MIL-STD 1553 data bus.

The rest of the vehicle is completely overhauled including the torsion bars, brakes, fuel supply, electric system, wheels, seals, paint, and smoke grenades.

On 21 August 1976, President Ford conferred with Henry Kissinger and green lighted Operation Paul Bunyan with a platoon of M60A1s reinforcing elements of the US 9th Infantry Regiment (Task Force Vierra) at the south end of the Bridge of No Return in response to the Korean axe murder incident.

The large number of M60 series tanks still in the Army's CONUS inventory in 1994 were declared as excess to requirements and disposal of them began through grant programs or demilitarization at additional costs to the US government.