German concern Rheinmetall and Italian company Leonardo plan joint tank production

German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall and Italian defence holding Leonardo announced on Wednesday, 3 July, that they plan to set up a joint venture to produce tanks for the Italian army.

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In a statement, the companies said they had signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a "new main battle tank" for the Italian armed forces and to supply the Lynx infantry fighting vehicle.

The combat vehicles and their support systems will be "designed and manufactured by Leonardo in accordance with the requirements of the Italian customer," the companies said. Rheinmetall's recently developed Panther tanks and the latest Lynx models provide "the basic technology on which both programmes can be built". The new entity, which will be equally owned by Rheinmetall and Leonardo, will be based in Italy, they said. The final production lines and 60 per cent of the production will also be in Italy.

The cooperation between the two defence firms is a "fundamental contribution to the creation of a European defence space," Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani said in a statement. According to the two companies, the new tanks will form the basis for a future joint European tank model, which is being developed with the support of the French and German governments.

Source: The Defence Post