Hobby Master HG5602 Israeli M60A1 Patton Medium Tank - Unidentified Unit, Sinai, October 1973 (1:72 Scale)
"The one thing I cannot forgive the Arabs for is that they forced our sons to kill their sons."
- Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir
Development of the American M60 series of tanks began in 1956 following a decision to create an improved version of the M48 'Patton' tank. Built by General Dynamics, the M60 entered service in 1960, but was quickly superceded by the A1 to A3 versions. Over 15,000 vehicles have been produced, many of which are still serving in the armies of 22 countries. The M60 has been continuously advanced and upgraded with advanced weapon control, ammunition, applique armour, and increasingly powerful engines. The M60 series main battle tanks of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the US were deployed in Operation: Desert Storm in 1991 during the Gulf Crisis.
The M60A1 with a new turret, thicker armor, and a new ammunition stowage system, was manufactured from 1962 to 1980. The M60A2, fitted with a new turret mounting a 152mm gun and missile launcher, was halted in the mid-70's and development and production effort was instead diverted to the highly successful M60A3, which incorporated improvements to the gun fire control system. The M60A3 entered service with the US Army in 1978 and is still being used by several National Guards units. Although General Dynamics' Land Systems Division has ceased production of the tank, it continues to provide fleet management support to the US Army Tank Automotive Command and to user countries world-wide.
Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of an Israeli M60A1 Patton medium tank that was involved in the Yom Kippur War and deployed to the Sinai during October 1973.
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Dimensions:
Length: 5-1/2-inches
Width: 2-inches
Release Date: May 2018
Historical Account: "War of Atonement" - The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War, or October War, also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, was a war fought by a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria against Israel from October 6th to 25th, 1973. The fighting mostly took place in the Sinai and the Golan Heights, territories that had been occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat wanted also to reopen the Suez Canal. Neither specifically planned to destroy Israel, although the Israeli leaders could not be sure of that.
The war began when the Arab coalition launched a joint surprise attack on Israeli positions in the Israeli-occupied territories on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, which also occurred that year during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Egyptian and Syrian forces crossed ceasefire lines to enter the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights respectively. Both the United States and the Soviet Union initiated massive resupply efforts to their respective allies during the war, and this led to a near-confrontation between the two nuclear superpowers.
The war began with a massive and successful Egyptian crossing of the Suez Canal. After crossing the cease-fire lines, Egyptian forces advanced virtually unopposed into the Sinai Peninsula. After three days, Israel had mobilized most of its forces and halted the Egyptian offensive, resulting in a military stalemate. The Syrians coordinated their attack on the Golan Heights to coincide with the Egyptian offensive and initially made threatening gains into Israeli-held territory. Within three days, however, Israeli forces had pushed the Syrians back to the pre-war ceasefire lines. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) then launched a four-day counter-offensive deep into Syria. Within a week, Israeli artillery began to shell the outskirts of Damascus. As Egyptian President Sadat began to worry about the integrity of his major ally, he believed that capturing two strategic passes located deeper in the Sinai would make his position stronger during post-war negotiations. He therefore ordered the Egyptians to go back on the offensive, but their attack was quickly repulsed. The Israelis then counter-attacked at the seam between the two Egyptian armies, crossed the Suez Canal into Egypt, and began slowly advancing southward and westward towards the city of Suez in over a week of heavy fighting that resulted in heavy casualties on both sides.
On October 22nd, a United Nations-brokered ceasefire quickly unraveled, with each side blaming the other for the breach. By October 24th, the Israelis had improved their positions considerably and completed their encirclement of Egypt's Third Army and the city of Suez. This development led to tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. As a result, a second ceasefire was imposed cooperatively on October 25th to end the war.
The war had far-reaching implications. The Arab world, which had experienced humiliation in the lopsided rout of the Egyptian-Syrian-Jordanian alliance in the Six-Day War, felt psychologically vindicated by early successes in the conflict. In Israel, despite impressive operational and tactical achievements on the battlefield, the war led to recognition that there was no guarantee that Israel would always dominate the Arab states militarily, as it had consistently through the earlier First Arab-Israeli War, the Suez War and the Six-Day War. These changes paved the way for the subsequent peace process. The 1978 Camp David Accords that followed led to the return of the Sinai to Egypt and normalized relations - the first peaceful recognition of Israel by an Arab country. Egypt continued its drift away from the Soviet Union and left the Soviet sphere of influence entirely.
Length: 5-1/2-inches
Width: 2-inches
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