The MBT-70 aka KpfPz. 70 The MBT-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. Leading up to the MBT-70