Early in the program, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara had made a decision that was to have a major effect on how long it would take to produce a new tank. and German collaboration.īy 1968, the MBT-70 program had been underway for nearly five years. Moreover, intelligence reports indicated that Russia was working on an even better model, the T-64, with a bigger gun, an automatic loader and a stabilization system that would allow the gunner to aim on the move.Ī prototype of the Main Battle Tank 70, or Kampfpanzer 70, a U.S. When Army planners in the Pentagon conceived the idea of a new tank to replace the M60 “Patton” Main Battle Tank, they were worried about the superiority of a new Russian tank, the T-62, which had a 115 mm smoothbore gun that was more powerful than anything in the West. security was still the massive number of Soviet and Warsaw Pact armor and infantry divisions facing NATO forces in Europe. I had come to the command from Vietnam where war was still raging, and where the newly produced lightweight Sheridan tank with a dual 152 mm cannon and missile was deployed. It was a challenging time to visualize and articulate what was needed for the primary ground combat vehicle in the Army’s future. That didn’t happen, but a prototype MBT-70 would become the predecessor of the present-day Abrams Main Battle Tank. The number 70 came from Army planners who hoped to have it in production during the 1970s. I was a major, and one of the voices for users of Army tanks, specifically for the new tank under joint development with West Germany known as the Main Battle Tank 70, or Kampfpanzer 70. Army Combat Developments Command Armor Agency at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Over 15 months in the late 1960s, I was the main battle tank project officer for the U.S. AUSA Volunteer Family of the Year Award.Letters to Congress & the Administration.

Inside modern day tank