Cold War Warrior LEOPARD 1 The Leopard 1 MBT in Cold War Exercises with the German Bundeswehr At the end of the 1950s, the German Bundeswehr decided to replace its M 47 / M 48 tanks of American origin as soon as possible with a new main battle tank built in West Germany. In many respects, the American designs did no longer correspond with German tactical ideas and operational requirements for the Central European theatre of operations. Thus, starting from scratch again, West Germany began new tank construction. As early as November 1956, the army's joint staff had already formulated its requirements for the first German tank design, "Kampfpanzer Standard" or standardised concept tank, since World War Two.
