The defense ministers of France and Germany signed an agreement on the joint production of a new generation of battle tanks.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu signed an agreement on the MGCS program to accelerate the ground combat system of the future, the French Ministry of Defense announced.
“This regulates, among other things, the distribution of industrial responsibilities,” it is stated.
Lecornu previously told France 2 television that his country aims to produce a Franco-German main battle tank by 2040, in light of “very strong international competition on land”.
The two neighboring countries have reached an agreement to jointly develop a next-generation battle tank, Pistorius announced on March 22nd.
He pointed out that the Franco-German MGCS battle tank would not be a modernized version of the French Leclerc or the German Leopard 2 tanks, but a completely new model, with advanced capabilities.
“We have agreed on the distribution of all tasks for this big project, which will be done by Germany and France,” added the German minister.
