Editing MBT-70 (section)

==Cancellation==
By 1969 the MBT-70 cost five times what was projected,<ref name="DerSpiegel"/><ref name=mbt70atfprado/><ref name=MBT-70atglobalsecurity/> at $1 million a unit. Originally the planned costs of the MBT-70 project were as low as $80 million (or 292.8 million [[Deutsche Mark|DM]]), but in 1969 the project had already cost $303 million (nearly 1.1 billion DM).<ref name="DerSpiegel"/> West Germany's part alone of this was about $130 million (475.8 million DM), which in itself was more than the original planned total costs of the project.<ref name="DerSpiegel"/>

Frustrated with the lack of resolution to the tank's technical problems and excessive weight, Germany announced in April 1969 that it would cut back on its purchase of the MBT-70 and begin development of a new tank.{{sfn|McNaugher|1981|p=25}}

A July 1969 House Armed Services subcommittee report on the troubled M551 Sheridan asked that funding for the MBT-70 be withheld pending a comprehensive review of the program.<ref name="sheridan problems">{{cite news |title=Sheridan Tank under Fire in Subcommittee |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/198271440/?terms=%22mbt-70%22%20sheridan&match=1 |access-date=13 November 2021 |work=Statesman Journal |agency=AP |date=10 July 1969}}</ref> In August 1969, Senator [[Thomas Eagleton]] was granted a request that the [[Government Accounting Office]] undertake an audit of the program.<ref name="GAO Audit">{{cite news |last1=Weaver Jr. |first1=Warren |title=Tank Fund Halted for a Cost Study |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1969/08/09/archives/tank-fund-halted-for-a-cost-study-senate-balks-the-pentagon-pending.html |access-date=26 August 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=9 August 1969 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826113509/https://www.nytimes.com/1969/08/09/archives/tank-fund-halted-for-a-cost-study-senate-balks-the-pentagon-pending.html |archive-date=26 August 2018 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

The GAO recommended the tank development program proceed on an austere basis. Acting on this recommendation, Deputy Secretary of Defense [[David Packard]] agreed to withhold $25 million earmarked for the production of six prototypes while the DoD completed a review of the project.<ref>{{cite news |title=Controversial Tank Project suspended by Defense Department |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/25727596/?terms=gao%20%22battle%20tank%22&match=1 |access-date=13 November 2021 |work=Tucson Daily Citizen |agency=UPI |date=9 September 1969}}</ref> Packard was ultimately persuaded by Army leaders that the American MBT-70 project was technically sound. The Army agreed that development would be better off without German cooperation.<ref name="packard convinced">{{cite news |last1=Hoffman |first1=Fred S. |title=Pentagon Plans Cheaper Tank |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/60603749/?terms=%22new%20main%20battle%20tank%22&match=1 |access-date=13 November 2021 |work=The Bridgeport Post |date=19 January 1970}}</ref> In January 1970, the Department of Defense ended its tank partnership with Germany and committed to forging ahead with its own design.<ref name="Bonn and Washington split">{{cite news |last1=Beecher |first1=William |title=U.S. and Bonn End 7-Year Joint Effort to Build a Tank |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/01/21/archives/us-and-bonn-end-7year-joint-effort-to-build-a-tank.html |access-date=26 August 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=21 January 1970 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826113505/https://www.nytimes.com/1970/01/21/archives/us-and-bonn-end-7year-joint-effort-to-build-a-tank.html |archive-date=26 August 2018 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

The U.S. spent $305.4 million on the MBT-70 and XM803 programs, while Germany spent $100 million.{{sfn|McNaugher|1981|p=20}}

Germany subsequently started the development of the "Keiler" tank on its own. Later this program would lead to the [[Leopard 2]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_leopard2.html|title=Leopard II at history of war|access-date=24 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101009215500/http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_leopard2.html|archive-date=9 October 2010|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>