Originally posted by fdiron:
The reason they were all pulled out of service was because of the massive recoil from the 152mm cannon.
You will find that the Sheridan suffered from excessive recoil, not the M60A2. What ended the deployment of the type was the obsolesence of the Shillelagh missile and the fact that the guidance electronics was being damaged by the blast of the gun and simple rough handling. The science of "hardened" electronics was in its infancy at the time the system was deployed.
This oddball model of the M60 came about in an effort to offset the numerical advantage held by the Warsaw Pact forces in the 1970s.
Thankfully, it never needed to be tested by actual warfare.
My regards,
Widewing