Kampfpanzer 70

Type: Main Battle Tank/Experimental Prototype
Nation: USA/Germany
Period: Cold War
Location: Deutsches Panzermuseum Munster, Germany

Another joint venture

The KPz 70 was a German-American attempt to develop a shared next-generation main battle tank. This vehicle was intended to replace both countries‘ fleets of M48s, M60s and Leopards (which had not even entered service at that point). The design phase started in 1963 and resulted in several prototypes on both sides of the Atlantic. But like the earlier cooperation between France, Italy and West Germany to build a joint tank (which eventually led to the AMX-30 and Leopard 1), the project was not to be successful. In 1969 it was cancelled due to different requirements, opposing priorities and exploding costs.

The tank of the future

The MBT-70 had an unconventional crew layout: Like the Soviet T-64 and T-72, the use of an autoloader reduced the crew to three men. But opposed to the Eastern Bloc vehicles, the whole crew was seated in the NBC-protected turret – even the driver, who had to sit in a counter-rotating compartment which kept him looking forward at all times and often resulted in motion sickness. On the plus side, the tank‘s hull was very low. Its silhouette could be reduced even more by the height-adjustable hydropneumatic suspension system. The main armament was a 152 mm smoothbore gun which could fire both conventional rounds and the Shillelagh missiles which had been developed for the American M551 Sheridan light tank.

Learning from mistakes

This particular vehicle at the DPM is one of two remaining prototypes that can be seen in Germany; the other one is located at the Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung Koblenz. Three of the American prototypes are on display in the US. Although the ambitious MBT-70 was a failure, it was certainly not a waste of time. Based on the gathered experiences, in the 1970s the United States and West Germany independently went on to develop the very successul M1 Abrams and Leopard 2.