Germany's Defence Minister Peter Struck refused to comment on the report but said the German government would not make any decision on the GTX tank until the end of the project's development phase in 2004.

Through its experience in the Iraqi war, Britain decided that it needs small, light armoured vehicles rather than a tank that, under the project, measures eight metres (26 feet) long, three metres (nine feet) wide and weighes 32 tonnes, Der Spiegel reported in its Monday issue.

Germany, Britain and the Netherlands decided two years ago to push ahead with a project to jointly develop the tank, nicknamed the Boxer, by 2004 despite the withdrawal of France.

The three countries placed a option on the purchase of 200 tanks from German defence groups Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall, charged with constructing 3,500 tanks at a cost of 1.5 million euros (1.73 million dollars) per vehicle.

Britain has since ruled out buying any of the tanks but said it would continue to cofund the project, Der Spiegel said.

Military experts within Germany's ruling Social Democrat Party have recommended the government cancel the project on the grounds that it will be too expensive to finance without Britain, it said..

The experts said the increased use of light armoured vehicles, such as the Dingo and Mungo tanks used in Afghanistan, would be better adapted to German military missions abroad.

A defence ministry spokesman insisted that the GTX tanks protected soldiers from landmines and anti-tank weapons and provided better troop security than the Dingo or Mungo models.

The GTX had been due to replace the German military's old M113 and Fuchs tanks.

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