France and Germany delay tank project
The agreement between Germany and France, aimed at building a joint, forward-looking MGCS tank, will not produce tangible results before the 2040s.
MGCS (Main Ground Combat System) is a Franco-German initiative to develop a joint family of combat vehicles. This includes a new main battle tank designed to replace the Leclerc and Leopard 2 tanks, along with a manned vehicle equipped with a rocket launcher and an unmanned Non-Line Of Sight (NLOS) missile launcher.
The program is still in its conceptual phase and - despite being in the early stages - has already been delayed by several years. France and Germany are, however, progressively reaching an agreement not only on the participation of their companies in the development and production of the new equipment but also regarding its technical specifications.
According to Defence 24, during the IAV (International Armoured Vehicles) conference, MGCS project leader Colonel Armin Dirks specified that each of the three developing vehicles is to weigh no more than 50 tonnes and will share a common hull and some components with the others. According to Europäische Sicherheit & Technik, this equipment is expected to be completed no earlier than the 2040s.
Imbalance between partners
The German industry cannot keep up with the demand for Leopard 2A8 tanks, and this equipment - beyond the Bundeswehr - is also ordered by other foreign clients. This not only allows for maintaining production capacity but also enables ongoing research and development efforts. The successive orders for new Leopard 2 tanks are leading to the saturation of the European market with modern tanks, which will meet users' needs for many years.
French capabilities in this area are limited. Resuming the production of Leclerc tanks - despite possible interest from the Cypriot army, among others - is currently unprofitable and would require restoring certain production capabilities for some components.
France, like the United Kingdom, no longer produces new tanks - the French industry only upgrades previously produced Leclerc tanks to the Leclerc XLR variant.
