How Bad Was The MBT-70?

Created in 1963, the MBT-70 program was a joint effort between the militaries of the United States and Germany to create a common main battle tank for western armored forces. It was hoped that this joint approach would yield a vehicle that greatly simplified logistics. Since the Soviets could not be beaten in quantity, NATO decided to go for higher quality. The MBT-70 would leverage the best technology available; TV vision, remote-controlled weaponry, a bustle autoloader, laser rangefinder, hydropneumatic suspension, and more. Ultimately, the program was far too ambitious.

Check the channel "About" section for the link to the creator of my profile picture.

Sources:
AD612144 Friction Hydro Pneumatic Suspension System
Abrams - A History of the American Main Battle Tank
Maintainability Demonstration Specification for the Main Battle Tank (MBT-70)
Collaborative Development of Main Battle Tanks; Lessons from the US / German Experience, 1963-1978

Songs used (in order from first to last):
Subnautica - Into the Unknown
Halo 3: ODST - Rain (Deference for Darkness)

Sound mods:
Epic Thunder (Pre-release)

Reddit: /u/spookston
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#warthunder​​​​​​​​​​​​ #tanks​​​​​​​​​​​​ #tankhistory

[RareFroggy]

The MBT-70 was a pretty interesting concept for its time, a 152 mm gun/launcher, all 3 crewmembers sit in the turret, a 20 mm cannon slapped on the roof and rather... interesting design.

[jonsouth]

Joint programs only really do well when all partners have compatible requirements and expect to be fighting in the same or similar environment. Sweden and Finland have had several very successful programs as they both agree on not only the most likely opposition equipment but also the most likely terrain and battlefield conditions in which the equipment will be used. In the past the Dutch and the UK have had some successful joint programs as up until the 1970s although their navies were vastly different in size they both concluded that they would likely be fighting in the North Sea, The North Atlantic, and South East Asia and had a very similar list of potential opposition in each theatre thus needed ships capable of operating in those vastly different biomes.

[bickboose]

I think the main problem with this project was the _uncompromising_ nature of the US military's expectations.
It *had* to have that shitty gun launcher, it *had* to hold the driver in a turret-mounted gyroscopic wagie cage and Uncle Sam wouldn't have it any other way.
I think there're other such cases where the US wanted a universal vehicle good at everything and things didn't turn out as expected.

[esanahka]

Did anyone else notice that PUMA at 0:47?

Spookston if you see this do a video on why autocannons on top of MBTs weren't a thing until now

[raizencore]

This had a lot of potential in my opinion, They definitely should have tried to make improvements.

[FirstMetalHamster]

I noticed you've somewhat slowed down your talking speed in the last year or so. Thank you for that, it helped me as a non-native process the information better. I could understand it before, but didn't manage to process the information quick enough.

Intel from the MBT-70 helped father the Leopard 2 and the Abrams. So not all of the money did go to waste.

[Kastev]

I had found out about this wonderful vehicle from the game Wargame: Red Dragon and was instantly attached to it. The 20mm on the roof gave great defense against heli and infantry rushes, the extra HE from it being a 152mm also gave it a bonus vs infantry, and lastly you could fire the ATGM on the move, albeit it was a very weak ATGM in the game when you compared it to the USSR's barrel-launched ATGM's.

When it was added into War Thunder, I was also happy, though at the time I was barely into tier 3 American ground, as I had preferred playing Air Arcade & occasionally Ground Arcade so I knew it would be a long time till I finally got to play it. It took me like 3 years of playing War Thunder till I finally started playing Realistic Air & Ground and after switching to Realistic started grinding much more RP/SL. When I did finally get the MBT-70, it had been power creeped by newer and more powerful vehicles. But I still enjoyed it solely due to the 20mm on the roof & the fast automatic reloading (pre-nerf).

[-southern_dh_mtb-]

Probably one of the best looking tanks imo

[Ranyick]

I love tanks with secondary auto cannons

[kobeh]

Considering the T-64 was almost as mobile, more strategically mobile, had a better gun that could ALSO shoot missile (ones that actually worked too) and was better armored, without making the driver have a stroke, I find the program ultimately very disappointing. Especially when the T-64 is so old.

[Ophiv]

The autoloader wasn't faulty - it was too strong. It was deforming the missile casings due to the force it was loading them in with, it loaded APFSDS and other munitions just fine. Basically the missile was too weak for the German auto-loader.

[goliath]

brother that puma you left behind (0:47) is giving me nightmares in your place

[DefinitelyNotEmma]

How to make the KPz/MBT-70 good: put a 120mm in it, done.

[MistahFox]

Getting Germany and America to agree on a tank was a fools errand, and the driver being in the turret without being centered was insane, but at least it was an interesting concept.

[mab]

The 20mm was prolly the best thing about this tank and should've become a standard for any tank after it. Anti-Everything!

[asclepiussss]

"And the pilot's capsule gave him motion sickness."

Maybe the projectile vomit would be more effective than the gun launcher system

[peepsbates]

"The MBT-70 is pretty famous, probably due to it's addition to War Thunder."

Me, an intellectual playing Peace Walker: "WHEN HEAVENS

[admiralobvious]

The MBT-70 was an extremely popular tank during the lifespan of the Wargame series. People used it and compared it to the Leopard 2 IIRC.

[alexgibbs]

Firstly, I love your videos!
Secondly, could you have a look at the stingray, I've heard you mention it recently but I don't think you've done a video on it if not, the XM-800t could make an interesting video.

[gaijinatemyhusky]

At 0:46 that Puma is just chillin there lol