Italy is looking for a partner country to develop and produce modern main battle tanks.Rome has made a formal offer to Poland to join the project, according to the Polish Ministry of National Defence.

“Italy's Ministry of Defence is sending proposals to some EU countries, including Poland, with the proposal to cooperate on a project on land platforms,” officials said, while the Ministry of National Defence said it was considering the proposal.

The tank project, which has also been proposed to Spain, will cover European countries that are not in the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) programme developed in partnership with Germany and France.

“We are looking for potential partners in the project that we are targeting the development of a common European tank”. Italian Deputy Defence Minister Angelo Tofalo said