09/09/2012

Yemen M60


Yemen is believed to operate an unknown number of US made M60 MBTs (Main Battle Tank).

There is very limited information available on Yemeni M60.   Few references indicate Yemen as an operator of this type, whilst those that do fail to indicate a supplier or reach a consensus on the number received [1]

The limited number of photographs and video footage available suggest the examples shown to M60A1s, though this is unconfirmed and Yemen may also operate M60A3 [2].

A Yemeni Army M60 as photographed in or prior to 2002. Source: BBC


Stills from a video clip reportedly showing the capture of a Yemeni Army M60 by the Houthis insurgency group.  This video can be dated as being taken between 2004-09[4]. Original Source LiveLeak[5], edited by the Author.


Notes

[1] "240" Wikipedia (no citation) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M60_Patton (accessed 08/09/2012) & "64" Army Guide http://www.army-guide.com/eng/product475.html (accessed 08/09/2012)
[2] This is based primarily on absence of the thermal sleeve on the gun barrel associated with the M60A3.  The author recognises this may not be a robust indicator and welcomes any further assistance in identifying the variant.
[4] The Houthis armed and intiated the insurgency in North Yemen in late 2004, the video was added to LiveLeak on 22/09/2009.
[4] LiveLeak http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=4e6_1253651865 (accessed 08/09/2012)

1 comment:

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