Italian and German Defence companies announced they would establish a joint venture to manufacture land systems, especially tanks. Leonardo and Rheinmetall will form a 50-50 joint venture based in Italy. The major goal will be to create a main battle tank and an armoured infantry combat system for the Italian Army. The German business journal Handelsblatt broke the story, reporting that the Italian government wanted to purchase hundreds of tanks from Rheinmetall.
The order would be worth roughly € 20 billion over 15 years. According to the joint statement, the final assembly lines, homologation testing, delivery operations, and logistical support would all be based in Italy, accounting for 60 per cent of total activity.
Last month, Leonardo met with the Franco-German collaboration KNDS, but negotiations on tank manufacture fell through. The business, however, remained committed to developing a new generation of armoured vehicle platforms for the Italian Army.
