The Bear Head project came from about 1985. Thyssen was one of the German companies to which the Canadian government campaigned for foreign investment, promoting the merits of investing in Canada. Thyssen had an interest at that time, as I understood it, in expanding their manufacturing in North America. The presentations by the Canadian government sounded very interesting to them.
The defence division was tracking the Canadian military's long-term project to acquire new vehicles, so Thyssen came to explore whether there was any possibility that they could bid on a Canadian project and have a chance of winning, because they recognized the domestic manufacturer already in place.