{{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019
The Medium Tank Trials Unit (MTTU) was a temporary
Australian Army
The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...
unit formed to test
M60 Patton
The M60 is an American second-generation main battle tank (MBT). It was officially standardized as the Tank, Combat, Full Tracked: 105-mm Gun, M60 in March 1959. Although developed from the M48 Patton, the M60 tank series was never officially ...
and
Leopard 1
The Leopard 1 (also styled Leopard I, before the Leopard 2 simply known as Leopard) is a main battle tank designed and produced by Porsche in West Germany that first entered service in 1965. Developed in an era when HEAT warheads were thought t ...
tanks to determine the most suitable replacement for the Army's Centurion tanks. The MTTU was formed in early 1972 by converting B Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment. The MTTU's personnel were trained in the United States and Germany in early 1972 and received two M60A1 Pattons, two Leopard 1A2s and a Leopard 1
armoured recovery vehicle
An armoured recovery vehicle (ARV) is typically a powerful tank or armoured personnel carrier (APC) chassis modified for use during combat for military vehicle recovery (towing) or repair of battle-damaged, stuck, and/or inoperable armoured f ...
in the middle of the year. The tank trials commenced in late 1972 and were conducted at
Puckapunyal
Puckapunyal (more formally the Puckapunyal Military Area, but also known as the Puckapunyal Camp or Puckapunyal Army Base, and colloquially as "Pucka") is an Australian Army training facility and base 10 km west of Seymour, in central Vic ...
and the Tully - Innisfail region of north Queensland. The trials were completed in March 1973 and the MTTU reverted to B Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment on 1 June 1973. The Leopard 1 tank was selected on the basis of the results of the trials and entered service with the Australian Army in 1976.