"Leonardo and Rheinmetall have signed today a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a new 50:50 joint venture ... The objective of the agreement is the industrial development and subsequent commercialization of the new Main Battle Tank (MBT) and the new Lynx Platform for the Armoured Infantry Combat System (AICS)," it read.
The joint venture will be headquartered in Italy. Italy will also carry out 60% of assembling, testing and logistics support. Leonardo will also produce electronics suites and take charge of weapons integration to meet the requirements of the Italian army.
"In doing so, we are addressing the Italian market as well as other partner countries that have a need for modernisation in the field of combat systems," Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said.
Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore has estimated the deal's worth at 20 billion euros ($21.6 billion). The daily cited sources as saying that its implementation could take 10 years.