\ $> <£. Y* * * # socinv or AUIOMOIIVE ENGINEERS, INC Two Pennsylvania Plaza. New York. N Y. 10001 The United States/Federal Republic of Germany Main Battle Tank Program: A Pioneering Effort in International Development Col. George A. Tuttle Main Battle Tank Engineering Agency Eugene W. Trapp U. S. Element Joint Engineering Agency Calvin D. Trestrail Allison Div., General Motors Corp. SOCIETY OF AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERS West Coast Meeting San Francisco, Calif. August 12-15, 1968 680534 Downloaded from SAE International by University of Leeds, Monday, September 24, 2018Downloaded from SAE International by University of Leeds, Monday, September 24, 2018680534 The United States/Federal Republic of Germany Main Battle Tank Program: A Pioneering Effort in International Development Col. George A. Tuttle Main Battle Tank Engineering Agency Eugene W. Trapp U. S. Element Joint Engineering Agency Calvin D. Trestrail Allison Div., General Motors Corp. THE TESTIMONY of Lt. Gen. Austin W. Betts, Chief, U.S. Army Research and Development Office, before the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Jan. 31, 1967, * provides a concise picture of this international development program: "In August 1963, the Secretary of Defense for the United "Hearings on H. R. 10738. U.S. Senate. Committee on Appropriations. 90th Congress, 1st Session 1967, p. 629. States and the Minister of Defense of the Federal Republic of Germany signed an agreement for the joint development of a completely new and significantly improved Main Bat­ tle Tank. This agreement envisioned the joint development of a tank which would reap significant gains from the com­ bat vehicle technology of both countries - - a tank for use in central Europe, a highly mobile tank, possessing the capa­ bility to kill all known potential enemy tanks at all ranges from extremely short to extremely long. In short, the minis- ABSTRACT ■ The United States and the Federal Republic of Germany have under joint development a new Main Battle Tank(MBT- 70) which brings together for the first time several com­ ponent improvements, some of which press the state-of-the- art, to yield advances in the track- laying combat vehicle field. The challenges of performing this task even on a unilateral basis would be classified as a major accomplish­ ment. This joint program started "right at the beginning" which involved formulization of joint military characteristics, managerial and technical operating procedures, standards, and a glossary of equal or similar terms; all in addition to concepts, mock-ups, detail design, hardware fabrication, and tests. The degree of planning and cooperation required had never before been achieved. The new vehicle which evolved, the technical management aspects, and the new mobility and firepower features -- all represent significant achieve­ ments. Downloaded from SAE International by University of Leeds, Monday, September 24, 20182 ters asked us to pool the resources of our two countries for the development of a new, totally superior tank for the 1970's. This we are doing. "MBT-70 has taken shape after extensive parametric design and, cost effectiveness analyses and will provide us with the firepower, mobility, and protection envisioned at the outset of the program. Its missile armament, supple­ mented by a conventional tank gun system utilizing both kinetic energy and highly explosive antitank ammunition, provides a flexible tank kill capability across a wide spec­ trum of ranges. It is equipped with a new power package and suspension which enables it to operate cross country much faster than tanks we know today. The MBT-70 will be capable of operating up to 48 hr without crew mainte­ nance. "The weapon system is composed of the Shillelagh Mis­ sile System for the defeat of armored vehicle and other hard targets by direct fire. In addition, the kinetic energy gun capability will defeat stationary or moving armored ve­ hic