BERLIN

Germany and France reached an agreement on jointly developing a next-generation battle tank, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced on Friday.

“We have achieved a breakthrough today and without exaggeration it can be described as a historic development,” he told a joint news conference with his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu.

Pistorius underlined that the Franco-German battle tank MGCS will not be a modernized version of the French Leclerc or the German Leopard 2 tanks, but a completely new model, with advanced capabilities.

“We have agreed on the distribution of all tasks for this major project as to what Germany and France will be doing. Together we have determined clear boundaries, and there will be no room for interpretation or any misunderstandings,” he stressed.

Pistorius also said that the production of the next-generation battle tank would be split equally by the defense industries of the participating nations.

“We will sign a memorandum of understanding in April. According to the current plan, I will travel to Paris on April 26, and we will sign this agreement,” he said.