The program was to be called the Main Battle Tank 70 or MBT-70. American Defense Secretary Robert McNamara decided to do something no one had ever tried before or since he got the West Germans to agree to jointly develop this “super-tank” with the United States. defense planners concluded what was needed was a tank so advanced that it would keep us ahead of the Russians for a full generation, not just a couple years. As a result, they both needed a heavy tank that could move fast, fire a very large round and withstand as much as it could dish out.īut at the time, the U.S. The American and West German armies faced exactly the same threat in exactly the same theater of operation. The West wasn’t to know until years later that the Soviet tanks were so cramped as to greatly reduce the efficiency of the crew, and that the autoloader for the main gun had a nasty habit of loading the extremities of unwary gunners into the cannon’s breech. In actuality, the typical “capability inflation” of Cold War-era Soviet weapon systems was in full effect. and West Germany had only just fielded two new heavy tanks, the M60 and Leopard I, but already it appeared that the new Russian tank would soon have the advantage over them. According to the Army, the event paired soldiers “with a team of industrial designers and Subject Matter Experts” to explore topics “from crew size to unmanned and autonomous considerations.” The team also “explored levels of desired lethality, mobility, and survivability applied to a number of concept platforms.By the early 1960s, with the Cold War now well into its second decade, Western intelligence learned the Soviets were preparing a vastly improved version of their T-62 main battle tank with upgraded armor, three-man crew and an autoloading main gun. Army’s Ground Vehicle Systems Center at Detroit Arsenal. The event, a three-day workshop, was held in early October at the U.S. The Army plans to make a decision about if and how to replace the Abrams in 2023. The images seem to depict at least three concept tanks, including one behemoth that dwarfs the 70-ton Abrams. Army workshop show a very rough idea of a possible replacement for the long-serving M1 Abrams tank. The new Optionally Manned Tank will be able to operate crewed or uncrewed on the future battlefield.Concept photos are blurred, but we can get an idea of the rough shape of the vehicles.Army workshop hold clues to what a replacement for the U.S.
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