Paris: Armoured-vehicle makers KNDS and Rheinmetall and defence-electronics firm Thales signed the shareholder agreement for the project company that will develop a future main battle tank for Germany and France, moving a step closer to starting actual work on a program held up for years by wrangling between various partners.
KNDS Deutschland, KNDS France, Rheinmetall and Thales will each hold 25% in the new company, which will be based in Cologne, Germany, with the accord signed in Paris on January 23 deemed essential in creating the joint firm, the companies said in statements. The firms announced their plan to set up the joint entity nearly nine months ago.
On a country level, the work share between France and Germany will be split 50/50. The balance between the various partners “was a little complicated” to set up, Emmanuel Chiva, the head of French armament agency DGA said in May.
The future tank, known as the Main Ground Combat System, is meant to replace the Leopard 2 and Leclerc tanks in service with the German and French armed forces, respectively. With the timetable to field the MGCS at risk of slipping, KNDS and Rheinmetall have been proposing competing tank concepts and upgrades as a stop-gap measure for operators of aging tanks.
“MGCS is the combination of the unique know-how of France and Germany in the field of battle tanks,” KNDS France CEO Nicolas Chamussy said in a post on X, calling the effort a “structuring program for Europe’s autonomous capacity in the area of land-combat systems.”
While the companies said the MGCS program aims to replace the Leopard 2 and Leclerc tanks by 2040, a statement by the French Armed Forces Ministry said the future tank will replace France’s Leclerc by 2035.
KNDS sees a market for hundreds of main battle tanks during the next 10 to 15 years – starting well before the envisioned arrival of the future tank. The company presented upgrades of the Leopard 2 and the Leclerc Evolution at the Eurosatory defence show in Paris last year. Rheinmetall showcased a version of its KF51 tank with an uncrewed turret at the show, as the company’s head of vehicle systems in Europe said the MGCS was taking longer than planned.
Meanwhile, the threats to heavy armour on the battlefield are evolving, with drones having become major tank killers in Ukraine. Rheinmetall in September unveiled an upgraded version of the UK’s Challenger battle tank, with a 120 mm smoothbore cannon and upgraded armour, which the company says is a step up in survivability.
