![f0056-02](https://article-imgs.scribdassets.com/6focpwdwxsao63bh/images/fileV4PTV3PW.jpg)
![f0056-03](https://article-imgs.scribdassets.com/6focpwdwxsao63bh/images/fileUCDXJZ1X.jpg)
“SEVERAL PROTOTYPES WERE DEVELOPED FOR TESTING IN 1960, AND THE PORSCHE PROTOTYPE II BECAME THE EARLY FAVOURITE”
![f0057-01](https://article-imgs.scribdassets.com/6focpwdwxsao63bh/images/fileVRXAJN2L.jpg)
In the wake of the Second World War, the development of armoured fighting vehicles was understandably slow in the Federal Republic of Germany. Not until November 1956, only a few months after the country had reconstituted a standing army, did the West German military issue specifications for the development of a main battle tank that would be a sufficient replacement for the aging US-produced M47 and M48 Patton tanks that populated its small armoured formations.
In 1957 a joint venture with France was undertaken, enabling both countries to contribute