World · Europe · 12 hrs ago
France and Germany say future tank project will continue
France and Germany say they will continue developing the Main Ground Combat System, or MGCS, a future military project.
It is intended to succeed Germany’s Leopard 2 and France’s Leclerc tanks.
The project appeared to be in trouble after French army chief Fabien Mandon told lawmakers that Germany had decided to withdraw.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and French Defence Minister Catherine Vautrin later said the project had not been ended or cancelled.
Work has been heavily delayed, so the two countries are also developing an interim successor to their current tanks.
It remains unclear whether the MGCS will be a single new tank or a wider system in which new vehicles operate together using digital and automated technology.
The project is estimated to cost €100 billion.
France and Germany say their future tank project, the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS), is continuing.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said the project had not been ended, killed or scrapped.
His statement followed French army chief Fabien Mandon's report to parliament that Germany had decided to withdraw.
French Defence Minister Catherine Vautrin and Pistorius confirmed the project would continue in Bordeaux.
The project is heavily delayed, and the article says its exact form remains unclear.
- Who
- France and Germany, represented by their defence ministers Boris Pistorius and Catherine Vautrin.
- What
- They said the Main Ground Combat System future tank project will continue.
- When
- Friday, after remarks by French army chief Fabien Mandon on Thursday.
- Where
- Bordeaux, France.
- Why
- Not stated
Fabien Mandon
Boris Pistorius and Catherine Vautrin
Project status
Fabien Mandon
Mandon told the French parliament that Germany had decided to withdraw from the project.
Boris Pistorius and Catherine Vautrin
Pistorius said the project had not been ended, killed or scrapped; he and Vautrin said it would continue.
French army chief Fabien Mandon told parliament that Germany had decided to withdraw from the MGCS project.
Mandon partly walked back his remarks.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and French Defence Minister Catherine Vautrin said in Bordeaux that the MGCS would continue.
- Project name
- Main Ground Combat System (MGCS)
- French army chief
- Fabien Mandon
- German defence minister
- Boris Pistorius
- French defence minister
- Catherine Vautrin
- Project status
- Continuing, according to the ministers in Bordeaux
- Project schedule
- Strongly delayed
What people are saying
The MGCS project is not ended, not dead, nobody has scrapped it. On the contrary, it is a core project of Franco-German cooperation on military systems on land.
We had hoped to build a new tank together with the Germans, but they have decided to withdraw from the project.
Sources
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