Germany and France collaborate on future tank
The agreement between Germany and France, aimed at developing a joint, future-oriented MGCS tank, will not yield concrete results before the 2040s.
MGCS (Main Ground Combat System) is a French-German program to develop a joint family of combat vehicles. This includes a new main battle tank that will replace the Leclerc and Leopard 2 tanks, as well as a manned vehicle with a rocket launcher and an unmanned Non-Line Of Sight (NLOS) missile launcher.
The program is still in the conceptual phase and, despite being in its early stages, is already delayed by several years. Nonetheless, France and Germany are gradually working out an agreement concerning not only the participation of their companies in the development and production of the new equipment but also its technical parameters.
According to Defence 24, during the IAV (International Armored Vehicles) conference, MGCS project leader Colonel Armin Dirks specified that each of the three vehicles being developed is to weigh no more than 55 tons and will share a common hull and some components with the others. As per 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 demands for Leopard 2A8 tanks, and this equipment—beyond the Bundeswehr—is ordered by other foreign clients as well. This not only allows the maintenance of production capacity but also enables continuous development and research work. Successive orders for new Leopard 2 tanks lead to the saturation of the European market with modern tanks, satisfying 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 the restoration of certain production capabilities for some components.
France, like the United Kingdom, no longer produces tanks. Instead, the French industry only upgrades previously produced Leclerc tanks to the Leclerc XLR variant.
