History
In the early 1960s the German Leopard 1 and the US M60 were the newest main battle tanks in their respective country's service. While designed to counter the T-54/55 tanks, both tanks were placed at a disadvantage by the new smoothbore gun fielded in the T-62. It became clear that the next generation of Soviet tanks would have increased firepower and protection. An upgrade project for the Leopard was planned, but it appeared this model would not be enough of an advance to be worthwhile.
To solve the problems in the tank forces, Germany and the United States had a memorandum of understanding to develop a common new tank for both armies. However, this may have been one of the worst things to happen to the project, as both teams started "pulling" the design in their own directions. Arguments arose over almost every part of the design: the gun, the engine, even whether or not the design would use metric or SAE measurements. This last dispute was eventually "settled" by using both systems, thereby increasing costs considerably.
Read more about this topic: MBT-70
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