Cologne: The main contractors for the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) have formed a joint project company to represent industry in upcoming contract negotiations with client nations Germany and France.
The company, based here, represents KNDS Germany, KNDS France, Thales and Rheinmetall as the four parties at the top of a pyramid of suppliers. The contractors are charged with building a futuristic tank while showcasing Europe’s unified arms industry at the same time.
In a joint statement, the companies described the incorporation of the business as a “further significant step” toward fielding the weapon by 2040.
The MGCS programme is one of two key weapon projects spearheaded by France and Germany. After haggling over workshare specifics for years, government leaders decided to have Germany lead the tank project while France would oversee a sixth-generation fighter program, the Future Combat Air System.
Officials have said MGCS will go beyond fielding a new main battle tank for German and French ground forces that would ideally be adopted later on by European partners. The idea is, rather, to build a suite of interconnected manned and unmanned vehicles to revolutionise ground combat through firepower, sensors and artificial intelligence.
The project is meant to produce a successor for Germany’s Leopard 2, the most widely used modern battle tank in Western Europe, and France’s Leclerc main battle tank.
Stefan Gramolla, a colonel in the German Army reserve, is managing director of MGCS Project Company, or MPC, according to the firms’ joint statement.
