The Leopard 2 main battle tank is Germany’s primary MBT. It has been deployed in Kosovo and Afghanistan. The armies of many countries, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain and Canada, have used the Leopard 2. Development of the Leopard 2 main battle tank began as a collaborative effort between West Germany and …
Category Archives: 1970s Tanks
Merkava Main Battle Tank
The Merkava main battle tank was the first military tank produced in Israel and is Israel’s main battle tank. Development of the Merkava began in 1967. The first prototype was finished in 1974 and production began in 1979. The Merkava MBT first saw combat during the 1982 Lebanon War. Survivability is the focus of the …
Pz 68 Main Battle Tank
The Pz 68 main battle tank is an indigenous Swiss main battle tank. It is no longer in service. In the early 1950s, Switzerland began to work on developing its own main battle tank. A prototype of a new tank was built in 1958, and another was built in 1959. Between 1960 and 1961, 10 …
SK 105 Kürassier Light Tank
The SK 105 Kürassier light tank was designed to be a mobile anti-tank vehicle that the Austrian army could use in difficult terrain. The Austrian army classifies it as a Jagdpanzer (tank destroyer). It is based on the Saurer 4K 4FA Armored Personnel Carrier. In 1967, the first prototype of the SK 105 Kürassier was …
T-72 Main Battle Tank
The Soviet Union’s T-72 main battle tank has played a part in many conflicts around the world from the end of the twentieth century through the beginning of the twenty-first. Originally, the T-72 main battle tank was designed to be a replacement for the T-62. The T-72 entered service in 1973. By this time the …
T-80 Main Battle Tank
The T-80 main battle tank was the first Soviet tank to have a ballistic computer and a laser rangefinder and the first Soviet tank to be powered by a gas turbine engine. It resembles the T-64 and the T-72 and has similar weaponry – a 4.92 inch (125mm) smoothbore gun, a 0.3 inch (7.62mm) coaxial …
Type 74 Main Battle Tank
Japan’s Type 74 main battle tank was designed to be an improvement over the Type 61 MBT. Mitsubishi began designing the Type 74 main battle tank in 1964. The first two prototypes of the tank, which was then designated the STB-1, were completed in 1969. More prototypes, known as the STB-3 and STB-6 were then …