Will France and Germany be able to save the European tank?
Less than a week after the cancellation of the Franco-German joint defense program Fcas, concerns are also emerging about the future of the Main Ground Combat System (Mgcs), the project aimed at developing the European tank of the future.
The alarm was raised by Rheinmetall, one of the main groups involved in the initiative alongside Knds and Thales, as doubts grow about France’s willingness to continue investing at the initially planned levels.
Launched by France and Germany in 2017 (alongside the parallel Fcas for the sixth-generation fighter jet), Mgcs is the program for the future ground combat system. Starting from 2040, the Franco-German Mgcs should replace the Leopard 2 and Leclerc tanks, respectively in service with the German and French armies. This project has also always risked failure due to unresolved divergences between Berlin and Paris.
All the details.
RHEINMETALL’S ALARM ABOUT THE FUTURE OF MGCS
The German defense group Rheinmetall looks with concern at the evolution of the Mgcs program. In an interview with the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, CEO Armin Papperger stated: “There is always a risk, but nothing has been decided yet.”
THE SHADOW OF THE FCAS PROGRAM FAILURE
Concerns come just days after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to “no longer pursue the development of a common combat aircraft.”
The Fcas program – estimated to be worth over 100 billion euros – was (imperfectly, inevitably) designed to replace the French Rafale and the German and Spanish Eurofighters starting from 2040. However, recently Fcas has been the subject of a long dispute between the companies involved: the French Dassault and the defense division of the Franco-German Airbus based in Germany.
According to Reuters, citing German government sources, the two leaders concluded that the companies tasked with developing the aircraft failed to reach an agreement.
The project was shelved due to tensions between the companies involved, representing a severe blow to European industrial cooperation in the defense sector. The failure of the initiative has raised questions about the viability of other major joint programs between Paris and Berlin, starting precisely with Mgcs.
DOUBTS ABOUT FRENCH FUNDING
According to Papperger, France is considering a significant reduction in resources allocated to the program.
The head of the German defense group stated that Paris is planning to drastically cut the planned budget, with funding less than half of what was initially envisaged.
A downward revision of resources could affect the program’s development timeline. “With less money available, you cannot go faster, and we are already very slow,” Papperger added. According to Rheinmetall’s CEO, the companies involved have so far received just 25 million euros for activities related to the program. An amount Papperger described as “really meager.”
WHERE THE FRANCO-GERMAN NEXT-GENERATION TANK STANDS
Just a year ago, the Mgcs Project Company (Mpc) was founded in Cologne, Germany, a company born from the collaboration between defense companies Rheinmetall, Knds and Thales to handle the implementation of the Franco-German Mgcs program.
In April 2024, the two countries had managed to unblock the dossier by agreeing on the distribution of industrial tasks. The signed protocol provides for an equal split among the companies participating in the project: Knds, a Franco-German consortium formed by the defense groups Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (Kmw, Germany) and Nexter Defence Systems (France), and Rheinmetall, based in Düsseldorf. However, recently the Minister of the Armed Forces Catherine Vautrin explained that the Mgcs project is about ten years behind schedule.
According to Vautrin, the delay is linked to the German decision to start an autonomous program for the new Leopard 3 tanks. This situation has forced France to cover the gap between the end of the Leclerc’s life cycle, scheduled for 2038, and the arrival of Mgcs, not expected before the early 2040s.
What is certain today is that the Franco-German joint program for the European tank of the future is under even greater pressure.
