The French Defense Minister received his German counterpart on Friday to close an agreement between the two countries to build a next-generation combat tank.
Germany and France, the two great powers of Europe, sign a weapons development program. The Defense Ministers, Boris Pistorius and Sébastien Lecornu, signed this Friday a joint agreement for the manufacture of a new latest generation tank.
He European supertank MGCS will replace the Leopard and the Leclerc. The first units are expected to arrive in 2040.
“The heart of the agreement is to say that in 2040 we will have the same tank because it will be in a common framework in which the two Armies will face the same adversary globally or, in any case, under the same joint training conditions. And then, based on our needs, we come to an agreement on distribution for our manufacturers, so obviously there is a balance. “It is important, politically and economically,” declared Sébastien Lecornu, French Defense Minister.
A sign of European cooperation in defense policy
Despite the tensions between France and Germany in recent years, this agreement aims to send a signal of European cooperation in defense policy.
“But I also want to make it clear that this is also an expression of what the French president said in his recent speech. We need a european understanding for the arms industry, for the development of weapons in Europe. In view of the events in the world, we must develop the best solutions in the arms sector in Europe, certainly not in the short term, that would not be successful, but in the medium and long term. The best solutions come from Europe“said Boris Pistorius, German Defense Minister.
Germany and France will have the same tank in the 2040s
Germany and France will have the same tank in the 2040s and both countries will be the driving force of European arms development. The tank system is added to the fighter aircraft project FCAS which France, Germany and Spain have already agreed to develop. Germany will take the leading role in the MGCS and France in the FCAS.
The development of a next-generation tank shows how Europe is expanding its defense industry, trying to compete with the growing military technology of countries such as India and China.
How will the MGCS offer be distributed?
He MGCS It is the second major arms industry project between the two European powers.
It coincides with another great Franco-German plan to build the fighter plane next generation, the FCAS, in addition to drone systems.
Germany is intended to lead the development of the MGCS, while France is taking the lead in the development of the FCAS.
However, the project, first discussed in 2017, has been plagued by disagreements and political tensions between both countries over issues such as energy transition.
However, Boris Pistorius reassured the room by stating that the common agreement is a “sign of mutual trust despite the current geopolitical context.”
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