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Germany, France to jointly develop new main battle tanks: reports

Xinhua, May 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Germany and France were preparing to jointly develop new main battle tanks to replace Leopard 2 tanks around 2030, German media reported on Friday.

In a letter sent to Bundestag, the lower house of German parliament, German Federal Defense Ministry said joint studies would start this year and last until 2018, the new tank would be built based on "technologies and concepts in joint studies with involvement of German industry," reported German Spiegel magazine.

Markus Gruebel, State Secretary of the Defense Ministry, said in the letter that the new development was necessary as the life of Leopard 2 tanks, the current main battle tank of German army, would end around 2030.

Leopard 2 was developed by German arm manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann in early 1970s and entered into service in 1979.

The plan comes as Germany tries to increase its military forces following the escalation of Ukraine crisis.

In April, the Defense Ministry announced to procure about 100 additional Leopard 2 tanks and increase the total number of the main battle tanks in service from 225 to 328.

According to the ministry, the decision was made in order to adapt to "the changed security situation." Endit