German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and her French counterpart, Florence Parly, have signed a framework agreement on the Franco-German Main Ground Combat System (MGCS), Germany's Federal Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on its website on 28 April, describing this as "an important signal for European defence co-operation". The system will replace German Leopard 2 and French Leclerc main battle tanks (MBTs) starting in the mid-2030s. The ministry said that the framework agreement established the MGCS project organisation and management structure. The objective is for both countries to benefit equally from their co-operation and therefore they will each provide 50% funding. They will also have intellectual property rights on the results of their work, the MoD added.
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