The Americans, for example, were going to equip the tank with a 152-mm gun, capable of launching guided missiles. The joint efforts were supposed to bring a quick and cheap result, yet it was clear from the very beginning that the sides had rather different requirements.
These works were part of the Main Battle Tank 70 program meant to create a universal tank for NATO. The exported vehicles of this type, however, are still used all over the world, from Australia to Canada. But in the end, this option was ruled out, because the German army started removing the obsolete Leopard 1 tanks from service in 2000s. Mounting of a 120-mm smoothbore gun from the Leopard 2 was also considered. The main change was in the mounting of a new fire control system, EMES 18. The last one was introduced in October 1986, when more than a thousand Leopard 1 tanks, still used by Bundeswehr, were upgraded to Leopard 1A5. Since the start of production, 4,744 battle tanks and 1,741 vehicles based on Leopard 1 were built. Leopard 1, a new German tank, entered service on October 1, 1963. German engineers cooperated with French and Italian specialists, but due to controversial requirements, the universal "European" tank never came to be. The military, however, was not quite satisfied with their characteristics, so in 1956 the German authorities initiated the work on a new universal tank. Post-war Germany was armed with American M47 and M48 tanks. Such vehicles are fit for completing quite a wide range of tasks, from fighting the enemy armored vehicles to destroying fortifications and troops. Out of this principle appeared the idea of the main battle tank (MBT). One of the main principles in organizing modern armored forces is vehicle unification.
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