Military Model Scene

Title: Cold War Warrior M60/M60A1/A2/A3

Author: Walter Bohm

Publisher: Tankograd

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A new American Special from Tankograd, number 3030 in the series and it takes the M60 MBT series as the topic.  The early M60, the first so-called MBT (Main Battle Tank) in the US Military began production in 1959 and went into service with US Army units in Europe in 1960.  It made it's first public showing when taking part in an exercise at Grafenwohr in 1961.  Going through a series of upgrades over it's service history, the M60A3 made a final appearance in Europe during the 1988 Reforger exercise before it was withdrawn and replaced by the newer Abrams.  The upgrades over the years were largely driven by countering the newer, changing capabilities of the Soviet tanks that would have been their most likely opponents in the event of another European war.

In the style common to this series, the opening section of text, provided in both German and English, gives us the history of the type and the introduction of the different variants as it was upgraded.  That leads into a list of US Armoured units equipped with the M60 series while serving in Europe, plus a graphical representation of a Tank Company, equipped with 17 M60s.

The remainder of this 64 page soft cover book is heavily illustrated with both black and white archive photos, and in this case, plenty of colour images as well, many of which have not been published before.  The sections are structured into essentially a chronological sequence, tackling the particular units equipped with the M60 series and others which provide details of the various NATO exercises that took place in Germany throughout the Cold War period.  The photos will ring plenty of bells in the minds of veterans of most NATO countries that served in Europe during the period between 1961 and 1988, not just American.  The photos illustrate the visual differences between the variants along with stowage of vehicles while in the field, and colours from plain overall Olive Drab and others in the multi-colour MERDC patterns.  We see them in the countryside and in towns and villages around West Germany.  We see some on river bridging, needing recovery when they broke down with the M88 ARV plus the other vehicle types that were serving alongside them over the years.

Another Tankograd title which will provide memories for veterans, historical detail for those interested in the Cold War but perhaps too young to actually remember it as well as an obvious and valuable reference for modellers.

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Thanks to UK stockists Bookworld for my example.

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Robin