MBT-70 (KPz-70)

History

The European Cold War lasted from 1947 to 1991, and the undisputed enemy of the democratic world was the nuclear-armed Soviet Union led by Joseph Stalin. After an outstanding performance against the Germans in World War II (1939-1945), the Soviet Army consisted of thousands of proven main battle tanks, self-propelled guns, artillery pieces, aircraft and an evolving air defense system. In 1949, the defeated Germans were divided into east and west, with the east under communist Soviet control.

The West German authorities and the U.S. military knew that armored forces crossing the border could destroy them in large numbers using simple conventional means. The United States maintained a full armored division along the border, supported by three M65 nuclear guns (known as "Atomic Annes"), which could be used if necessary to deal with large Soviet tank attacks from the east.

The main disadvantage of Annie is that it takes a whole day to locate and prepare to fire. As a result, Annie's position could be occupied by a fast-moving enemy in front of her nuclear warhead. Instead of turning a blind eye to the weapons, the Soviets kept an eye on Anne.

At the time the US Army's main battle tank (MBT) was the M60 "Patton", while the Germans were the Leopard 1 - both tanks were designed to counter the Russian T54/55 series tanks, now due to the advent of advanced Strengthen the T-62. Both Germany and the US continue to improve their Leopard 1 and M60 tanks, but inevitably expect more advanced tanks to beat future Soviet tank designs already in development.

In 1963, the United States and Germany conducted a joint project to develop a new type of main battle tank - the German prototype was named "KPz-70" and the American version was named "MBT-70" (this article The purpose is that both are collectively referred to as MBT-70). The goal was to build a superior armor system using ladle tungsten alloy armor and an inner shell consisting of spaced layers of superhard, uniformly rolled steel armor. Almost from the start, the two design teams faced many disagreements over the number of design features to merge. The language barrier was an obvious disadvantage, and the competition between the two teams resulted in little teamwork and development cost overruns. While the need for a main battle tank is the same, each army's requirements vary by battlefield theory and tactics.

The two sides chose different engines and main guns, and even the use of metric (or "SAE") measurements is disputed, so in practice both will be used.

Testing began in 1965, and both teams developed fairly advanced features, such as a new hydropneumatic suspension system that allowed the tank driver to lower his profile to 4 inches off the ground. This will help the system hide in tall bushes while making targets harder to hit. The suspension can then be raised for better off-road capability and excellent ride on paved roads. The turret was large enough to accommodate a crew of three, which in itself represented a significant departure from the traditional approach, in which the driver was always stationed under the forward fuselage - with the exception of the gunner's crew.

The US team chose a 152mm launcher as the primary weapon for their MBT-70 with an XM-150 autoloader for AP/HE/WP shells and Shillelagh anti-tank missiles - the latter Can catch you and hit the target 3000 meters. To suppress the infantry, there was a coaxial 7.62 machine gun, and to protect against low-flying aircraft, a remote-controlled 20-mm anti-aircraft gun was provided, mounted on the sides of the tower and hidden under two hatches.

The Germans took a relatively simple approach, using a 120mm automatic cannon as their primary weapon.

In addition to these innovations, the MBT-70 is a very traditional tank configuration. Both design teams opted for a rear-mounted diesel engine for increased reliability, performance and efficiency. However, the two teams again opted for engines from different manufacturers - the US engine opted for a 1,470 hp Continental AVCR air-cooled V12 diesel system, while the German team opted for a 1,500 hp MTU diesel. Both tanks were able to travel at 43 miles per hour, making the MBT-70 prototype the fastest MBT in the world at the time. The main innovation is the staggered drives in the turret, located in the cupola where the turret itself rotates, always facing the direction of travel of the drive when the tank turret changes direction to engage a specific target.

During sharp turns, however, pilots reported disorientation in reaction, although it was recognised that such an arrangement allowed the vehicle to reach its maximum permissible speed in both forward and reverse - an unheard-of specification at the time and about 30% faster Than the M60 Pattons already in service. For the safety of the crew, the design team installed a rear fire door and bulkhead system behind the ammunition storage area, which would explode if hit directly.

This action is also designed to eject and away internal ammunition from the tank to further protect the crew from ammunition explosions.

As one might have guessed, there were a number of problems with the ambitious MBT-70 design: the projectile did not have a brass casing - the entire cartridge was actually the projectile itself. While this reduces airframe weight, projectiles tend to expand when wet, rendering them largely unusable or igniting prematurely in vehicles. Riders despised the idea of ??a rotating cupola, and the 20mm gun proved too technical and never lived up to the promised specs. The MBT-70's weight problem quickly rose from an initial 46 tons to a final 54 tons.

It was eventually reduced to over 50 tons, but that still precluded its use with current armoured rescue vehicles of both armies and across standard problem portable bridges.

Initially, project planners were optimistic that the entire project would cost $80 million. However, the project's "death zero" started with a lack of collaboration between the two design teams working together to create a viable product at a reasonable price. By 1969, the price of the 14 pilot vehicles and their required trials had risen to $303 million.

These problems eventually forced the West Germans to withdraw from the project. The Germans continued the domestic MBT program with their completed prototype, which evolved into the first-class modern Leopard 2. Back in the U.S., Congress withdrew funding from the U.S. program in 1970. This forced the U.S.

Army to follow the German general's ideas and called for further funding to evaluate completed prototypes with lower budgets under the new product designation "XM803". This limited project ultimately failed, but the resulting development became the "XM1", which would lead to the exquisite M1 Abrams MBT still in service today.

From the Gulf War in 1991 to the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, the M1 will play a special role in combat operations.

The tank image shown on this website is a prototype #5 held at Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Maryland in 2009. Careful observers will notice that the boxes on the turrets on either side of the 152mm gun are these steel weights used to test the MBT-70 to simulate the weight of the armor plates used in final production form.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

42x152mm AP/HE/WP projectile (US only)

6 x Shillelagh AT missiles (US only)

660 x 20mm ammo

2,700x7.62mm ammo

Changes