Italy’s Leonardo and Germany’s Rheinmetall entered a joint venture for the development and production of combat vehicles, targeting potential orders of up to $54.55 billion.

Italy's Leonardo and Germany's Rheinmetall have finalised a joint venture for the development and manufacturing of military combat vehicles, in what is seen as the first step in the consolidation of the European sector.

German weapons manufacturer Rheinmetall and Italian defence contractor Leonardo are jointly launching a new company to build battle tanks, initially for the Italian military, the firms announced on Tuesday.