German minister hails MoU with France as 'milestone' for joint tank development

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said there was still a long way to go to realise Germany's joint military tank project with France but hailed a memorandum of understanding as an "important milestone" during a visit to Paris on Friday.

Speaking alongside his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu, Pistorius said contracts with industry were expected to be finalised for the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) project by the end of the year, after which he was confident the German parliament would give the scheme its blessing.

MGCS, the second major arms industry project between the two countries alongside their ambitions to build a next-generation fighter jet known as FCAS, is supposed to replace Germany's legacy Leopard and France's Leclerc systems.