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An Alternative History of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps Part 3


rickshaw

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An Alternative History of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps

Part 3

 

In the meantime relations with Indonesia were restive. A Communist coup occurred in 1965 and Try Sutrismo was it's new leader. The Indonesians immediately received military aid from the USSR and the PRC, including T55 MBTs. Australia became more alarmed at this. They ordered a squadron of M103 heavy tanks from the US, armed with 120mm guns. Finding that the M103 was a “maintenance hog” and not terribly reliable, they sought alternatives. The M60a2 was just becoming available in 1974. They ordered a replacement squadron. It seemed to be the perfect answer with a long range missile/gun. It wasn't. If the tank fired it's conventional gun, the missile guidance system was knocked out of alignment. This problem was never fixed with the consequence that the vehicles were forbidden to fire conventional ammunition. As the Shillelagh missile was comparatively expensive little time was spent on the range and the vehicles quickly became known as “hangar queens”.

 

The M48s were starting to wear out from their harsh service in South Vietnam. The Australian Army looked to replace them in the mid-1970s. Again, they looked to the USA. The M60 standard MBT was by then available. However, the standard M60 was not as good as the promised M60a1. The Army opted to wait until the M60a1 became available. They waited an extra five years until 1980. They then ordered a regiment worth of vehicles, plus spares and specialist vehicles. This came to a total of 150. They began to arrive in 1982. Once more, 1 Armoured Regiment was brought up to strength.

 

M103

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M60a2

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M60a1

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The Kit

 

The kits are Tamiya M60a2 and the M60a1 and a Dragon M103. They are painted with a hairy stick and Vallejo acrylics. The decals are via Kit Spackmen.

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