Available to NATO forces, the KPz 70 (KPz meaning "Kampfpanzer"; German: "battle tank") is the West German variant of the American MBT-70.The MBT-70/KPz-70 was a 1960s joint U.S.-German project to develop a new main battle tank using a number of advanced design features. By the late 1960s the project was well over budget and the Germans withdrew from the effort, developing their Leopard 2 instead. Development continued in the US, but the per-unit cost had risen five times, and in 1971 Congress overrode the Army's objections and the MBT-70's funding was redirected to create the M1 Abrams.
Even though the KPz-70 has the exact same specification as the MBT-70, its weapons loadout only has the L44 and the HS.820, while the MBT-70 has the Shillelagh-C, XM-150, and the HS.820, making the MBT-70 armed with with more weaponry.
Tactics[]
- The KPz 70 is a capable tank, sporting a powerful and reasonably accurate main gun and with a autocannon for backup it is able to take on most targets reliably, the auto cannon allows it to act as AA in an emergency, the main gun is powerful enough to engage all but the most powerful of pact tanks and the accuracy of 7 means that it will hit at an acceptable rate and the good stabilizer means that it can be used to assault enemies while on the move.
- One of the main shortcomings of the KPz is its rather poor armour, especially on the side with a miserable side armour of 3 which means you should try to have a "front towards the enemy" approach, similar to the the T64BV, and the front armor of 7 is decent but the the tank will quickly melt when faced with the high AP high tier pact tanks.
- An advantage of the KPz-70 is that the availability of it is 8, which is four more than most high tier NATO tanks, allowing it to be used as a backbone of a force rather than the powerful but limited in numbers fire support that is most high tier NATO tanks.
- Overall the KPz-70 is a heavily armed but rather weak tank that can be used multi-role as improvised aa and its large numbers available mean it can be used as a more general purpose tank then other NATO tanks of it's capability, however is it hampered by a rather large price for what it does.
History[]
- See MBT-70 History
The MBT-70 (KPz-70 in German) was an American-German joint project to develop a new main battle tank. Altogether 14 prototypes and test-beds have been built, two of them were made of mild steel.
Some of them have survived in museums and can still be visited today. One prototype is located in the Deutsches Panzermuseum Munster. Another is located in the Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung Koblenz. The project had its origins in the early 1960s when both West Germany and the United States needed a new tank because the Soviet Union had deployed the T-62 and the main tanks of the US (M-60) and Germany (Leopard 1) were no match against the T-62 they started a program for a tank that can counter the Soviet T-62 the tank was called in the US MBT-70 and for West Germany KPz-70 however the project got too expensive. In 1969 West Germany halted on their part of the project but the Americans continued the project until 1971 when the US Congress terminated the MBT-70 project altogether but its legacy lives on with the American M1 Abrams and the German Leopard 2.
Weapons[]
European Escalation[]
| Weapons | 
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Main Gun | Autocannon | No Weapon |
| Name | L44 | HS.820 | |
| Caliber | 120mm | 20mm | |
| Ammo | x 25 rounds | x 2200 rounds | |
| Range | Ground = N/A m Helicopters = N/A m  Airplanes = N/A m
|
Ground = N/A m Helicopters = N/A m Airplanes = N/A m
|
|
| Accuracy | 7 | 1 | |
| AP Power | 9 | 1 | |
| HE Power | 3 | 1 | |
| Rate of fire | 7 r/min | 250 r/min |
Red Dragon[]
| Weapons | 
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Main Gun | Autocannon | No Weapon |
| Name | L44 | HS.820 | |
| Caliber | [KE] [AoE] 120mm |
[KE] [AoE] 20mm |
|
| Ammo | x 48 | x 820 | |
| Range | Ground = 2275 m Helicopters = N/A m Airplanes = N/A m
|
Ground = 1575 m Helicopters = 1575 m Airplanes = N/A m
|
|
| Accuracy | 50% | 15% | |
| Stabilizer | 45% | 10% | |
| AP Power | 15 | 2 | |
| HE Power | 3 | 1 | |
| Suppression | 138 | 40 | |
| Rate of fire | 10 r/min | 749 r/min |
See also[]
- MBT-70 - Prerequisite
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