France and Germany signed on Friday memorandum on the joint development and production of the tank of the future, which is to replace the current war machines of both countries. Foreign Ministers Sébastien Lecornu and Boris Pistorius called it an important milestone during a meeting in Paris, from which, according to them, there is still a long way to go before the finished tank, press agencies reported.
The Franco-German Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) project has as its main ground combat system after 2035 to replace German Leopard 2 tanks and French Leclerc machines.
“There was a vision at the beginning of the project. It certainly takes a lot of time and effort from vision to implementation, but today’s signing is a real milestone,” German Defense Minister Pistorius said, according to AFP. According to him, contracts with arms companies could be signed by the end of the year, and then the project should be approved by the German parliament.
In response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, European countries are trying to increase defense investments and strengthen and modernize their arsenals. Part of this effort is the development of a larger number of joint projects, which until now have been difficult to implement due to the different approaches of individual countries and the competitive struggle of their armories. According to Pistorius, the production of the new tank should be equally divided between the French and German arms industries.
In addition to the development of a joint tank, Germany and France are also working on the project of a new European FCAS combat aircraft, in which the French Dassault Aviation, Airbus on behalf of Germany and the Spanish company Indra participate. The goal is to develop a combat aircraft that would replace the French Rafale fighter jets and the European Eurofighter from 2040, in the development and production of which, in addition to Germany and Spain, Britain and Italy also participated.
Tags: France Germany signed memorandum development tank future
