The US Army has made a rather unconventional purchase of weapons. The M60 machine guns for the 7.62x51 mm cartridges were ordered. U.S. Ordnance company is to supply the equipment. The total value of the contract is $14.96 million, with a 5-year term.
All data on the recipient and quantity of weapons, as well as the deadlines for delivery, have been censored and are darkened in the public version of the agreement. In addition, it is stated that the contract amount includes training services, which may directly indicate the export.
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According to Army Recognition, these factors may indicate that Ukraine may be the recipient of these machine guns under the military assistance program. As Defense Express, we note that M60 machine guns have already been supplied to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Moreover, a certain number of them was transferred as part of the first military aid packages that arrived a few weeks before the russian invasion.
At the same time, the U.S. Army can definitely be excluded from receiving M60 machine guns, as the U.S. military began to abandon them in 1976. Instead, the Belgian FN MAG machine guns were adopted. They are also in service with about 50 other countries, including 11 NATO members.
Therefore, the possibility of transferring a significant number of M60s to Ukraine exists, but it is no more likely than the transfer of these weapons to any other US partner country.
The price of the M60 has not been disclosed, but it is possible to quote the price of a similar machine gun, in particular the Bulgarian MG-1MS (PKM variant). It costs 4.5 thousand euros, under an export contract in 2023. There is also an unofficial price of 6 thousand dollars for one M60. Taking into account other related services and other aspects, the total price of this deal of $14.96 million probably means a total volume of about 2-3 thousand M60 machine guns.
It should be noted that under the terms of the agreement, the machine guns are to be manufactured in M60E4 and M60E6 variants. The E4 variant has been in production since 2000, and the main purpose of the modernization was to overcome the M60's main drawback of low reliability. The E6 is an updated version of this model with a weight reduction from 10.2 to 9.27 kg. It should be added that the M60 machine gun was adopted in 1957.
Due to changes in the design and barrel manufacturing technology, U.S. Ordnance managed to eliminate the M60's shortcomings, as evidenced by the Danish Army's choice of the M60E6 in 2015, although the German MG5 from Heckler & Koch was a competitor.
Earlier Defense Express reported that Spanish Defense Minister had revealed continued deployment of Spanish VAMTAC vehicles in Ukraine.
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