The French and German defense ministers signed a deal for a Franco-German armaments project worth billions of euros. It includes developing a new battle tank to replace Germany’s Leopard 2 and France’s Leclerc.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and his French counterpart, Sebastien Lecornu, announced that their countries were ready to move ahead with a jointly developed new tank that would become the central pillar of their ground defenses.
Pistorius signed a memorandum of understanding on the development of the next-generation tank, the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS), during a visit to France on Friday. The tank is meant to replace Germany’s Leopard 2 battle tank and France’s Leclerc.
What did Pistorius say?
Pistorius described the agreement in principle as “historic.”
“We have agreed on the distribution of all tasks for this major project,” he said while stopping short of publicly releasing more details.
The German defense minister said there was still a long way to go until tank production would actually begin, though he acknowledged that the agreement was an “important milestone.”
Pistorius said contracts with industry were expected to be finalized by the end of the year. He expressed confidence that the German lawmakers would bless the scheme.
Lecornu, meanwhile, named KNDS, Rheinmetall and Thales as companies that were likely to contribute to the future tank.
The ministers also agreed on the contested distribution of tasks and contracts for the project. Two of the eight pillars of the project would be led by Berlin, another two by Paris, while the remaining four would be jointly led.
Source: Dw
