| MBT-70 | |
|---|---|
.jpg) MBT-70 (KpfPz-70) | |
| Type | Main battle tank |
| Place of origin | United States West Germany |
| Production history | |
| No. built | 14 (prototypes and pilots) |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 50.4 tonnes (49.6 long tons; 55.6 short tons)[1] |
| Length | 9.1 metres (29 ft 10 in) |
| Width | 3.51 metres (11 ft 6 in) |
| Height | 1.99 to 2.59 m (6 ft 6 in to 8 ft 6 in) |
| Crew | 3 |
| Armor | Spaced armour Two layers spaced with 127mm, the inner a softer steel that also served as a spall liner (46mm), and the outer of harder cold-rolled steel (34mm)[citation needed]. |
Main armament | 152 mm XM150E5 |
Secondary armament | 20 mm Rh-202 autocannon[2] 7.62 mm M73 or MG 3 machine gun (coaxial)[2] |
| Engine | 1,470 horsepower (1,100 kW) (MBT-70) 1,500 horsepower (1,100 kW) (KPz-70) |
| Power/weight | 29.2 hp/t (MBT-70) 29.8 hp/t (KPz-70) |
| Transmission | Renk HSWL354/2 |
| Suspension | Hydropneumatic |
| Fuel capacity | 1,300 litres (343 gallons) |
Operational range | 644 km (400 miles) |
| Maximum speed | 68.7 km/h (42.7 mph) |
The MBT-70 (German: KPz 70 or KpfPz 70) was an American–West German joint project to develop a new main battle tank during the 1960s.
The MBT-70 was developed by the United States and West Germany in the context of the Cold War, intended to counter the new generation of tanks developed by the Soviet Union for the Warsaw Pact. The new tank was to be equipped with a number of advanced features such as newly developed "kneeling" hydropneumatic suspension and housing the entire crew in the large turret, and was armed with a 152mm XM150 gun/launcher, which could use both conventional ammunition and the MGM-51 Shillelagh missile for long range combat.[3]
The program faced significant challenges from the start, including poor communication and coordination between the American and West German teams working on the project. The U.S. Army and the German Bundeswehr had different requirements which were not aligned and were not resolved before the project was too far advanced to be changed.
By the late 1960s, the development of the MBT-70 was well over budget, leading West Germany to withdraw from the project in 1969. The United States continued development of the MBT-70 (spun off as the XM803) until 1971 when the program was finally cancelled, with funds and technology from the MBT-70 project redirected to the development of the M1 Abrams. West Germany independently developed the Leopard 2 as its new main battle tank.
- ^ MBT (MBT 70) "prototype" (Sign in the Panzermuseum Munster). Retrieved 2010-11-19 – via Wikimedia Commons.
- ^ a b Hunnicutt 1990, p. 133.
- ^ "Licht vom Mond". Der Spiegel (in German). 2 November 1969. Archived from the original on 2012-10-22. Retrieved 2010-11-08.