The Sabra (, " prickly pear") is an extensively upgraded

M60 tank The M60 is an American second-generation main battle tank (MBT). It was officially standardized as the Tank, Combat, Full Tracked: 105-mm Gun, M60 in March 1959. Although developed from the M48 Patton, the M60 tank series was never officially ...

developed by

Israel Military Industries IMI Systems, previously Israel Military Industries, also referred to as Ta'as (), was an Israeli weapons manufacturer. The company manufactured weapons, munitions and military technology mainly for the Israeli security forces (especially Israel' ...

. The Mk II version of this upgrade package was used in one of the

Turkish Army The Turkish Land Forces () is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for Army, land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Significant campaigns since the ...

's modernization programs. The Sabra is known as the M60T in Turkish service.

Overview

The Sabra was initially developed as a further evolution of the Magach 7C. The ballistic profile of the appliqué armor was improved and it incorporated the MG253 120 mm gun developed by IMI. The upgrade package was first offered to Turkey as an option for its tank modernization program and later offered for general export. The Turkish government selected the Sabra Mk II (a further modified version of the Sabra) for its upgrade program, which was intended as a stopgap measure. A contract estimated to be worth $688 million

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

was signed on March 29, 2002. The first Sabra Mk II was delivered for Turkish trials in 2005 and passed qualifications in May, 2006. 170 were upgraded between 2007 and April, 2009. The upgrades were undertaken by the Turkish Army's 2nd Main Maintenance Center Command, with upgrade kits supplied by IMI.

Variants

;Sabra Mk I: The Mk I was essentially an upgraded Magach 7C. It incorporated a new 120 mm gun developed by IMI, improved applique armor, and the Knight

fire control system A fire-control system (FCS) is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a Director (military), director and radar, which is designed to assist a ranged weapon system to target, track, and hit a target. It performs th ...

from

Elbit Systems Elbit Systems Ltd. is an Israel-based international military technology company and defense contractor. Founded in 1966 by Elron, Elbit Systems is the primary provider of the Israeli military's land-based equipment and unmanned aerial v ...

. The running gear would also be upgraded from the Magach to improve cross-country mobility. The hybrid electric and hydraulic turret traverse system from the Magach 7C is replaced with an all-electric system. ;Sabra Mk II / M60T: Unlike the Mk I which used a low-profile commander's

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

, the Mk II retained the larger M60 Patton style M19 cupola with the M85 12.7 mm machine gun found on the M60s in Turkish service. This version would also include a Commander's Independent Thermal Viewer (CITV). The Mk II also uses a more powerful

MTU Friedrichshafen MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH, trading as MTU Solutions (stylised as mtu Solutions) is a German manufacturer of commercial internal combustion engines founded by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach in 1909. Wilhelm Maybach was the technical d ...

engine built under license in Turkey (MTU Turk A.S.), and a Renk transmission with four forward and two reverse gears. The Mk II is also equipped with

explosive reactive armor Reactive armour is a type of vehicle armour used in protecting vehicles, especially modern tanks, against shaped charges and hardened kinetic energy penetrators. The most common type is ''explosive reactive armour'' (ERA), but variants includ ...

. The tanks were upgraded by the Turkish military's 2nd Main Maintenance Center with Israeli cooperation. All the systems except the armor package were built under license with technology transfer in Turkey. The Sabra can carry 500 litres of diesel fuel. ;Sabra Mk III: The Sabra Mk III incorporates armor technology, cannon, the RWR/ IR warning system, and tracks from the

Merkava The Merkava (, , "chariot") is a series of main battle tanks used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) which are the backbone of the Armored Corps (Israel), IDF's Armored Corps. Current iterations of this tank are considered broadly equivalent t ...

Mk IV. ; FIRAT-M60T / M60TM Turkish local ( Aselsan) enhancement of the M60T Mk III Sabra main battle tank unveiled in 2019. Fitted with a commander's independent thermal viewer (CITV), a new and locally developed Aselsan Volkan-M fire control system, an RWR/IR warning system and Aselsan PULAT

active protection system An active protection system (APS) is a system designed to actively prevent certain anti-tank weapons from destroying a vehicle. Countermeasures that either conceal the vehicle from or disrupt the guidance of an incoming guided missile threat are ...

. Tanks undergoing the modernization are expected to be fully completed by the end of 2021. Examples were deployed in Syria in July 2020.

Users

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

– 450 as M60 Sabra, Currently 169 in service as of 2022 * see also: Non-U.S._operators_of_the_M60_tank

Gallery

File:Operation Olive Branch-Turkish Army forces.jpg, In Operation Olive Branch File:Operation_Olive_Branch-Turkish_Army_tank.jpg, In Operation Olive Branch

References

External links