Though hardly used in the Korean War, the thousands of M47 Patton tanks that the Detroit Tank Arsenal produced didn’t exactly go to waste. Eventually, the M47 was sent to Europe to defend against threats of invasion by the Soviet Union in nearly 20 countries as Cold War tensions grew among NATO allies. In the 1960s, the plant would again transition its operations to create M60 tanks.
However, in the late 1970s, the Detroit Tank Arsenal would once more shift. This time, the facility began manufacturing parts for the new and advanced M1 Abrams tanks, although these tracked vehicles were actually assembled elsewhere.
In 1982, Chrysler, after operating the facility for over four decades, would sell the plant to General Dynamics, which would go on to produce M60 and the Abrams until 1987. In 1996, the plant would officially close its doors.
