In July 1945, after liberation of France the Chief of Defence Staff, the Staff of the Armed expressed the need for a national heavy tank design. In anticipation of rising tensions with the USSR and the balance sheets from the last world war, the French army presented a detailed specification of what should be the future main battle tank of the army. The tank must have been comparable in several respects to existing tanks. Indeed, the French army demanded a weapons whose minimum power had to be equivalent to the 88mm cannon of the German Tiger II. He was also asked an armour equivalent to the Panther and a mobility similar to that of the T-34.