Step forward for the Mgcs (Main Ground Combat System), the Franco-German project for the new generation European tank.
On April 10, the Mgcs Project Company (Mpc) was founded in Cologne, Germany, a company born from the collaboration between defense companies Rheinmetall, Knds and Thales, which will be responsible for the implementation of the Franco-German Mgcs program.
Launched by France and Germany in 2017 (alongside the parallel Fcas for the sixth-generation fighter), the Mgcs is the program for the future land combat system. Starting from 2040, the Franco-German Mgcs should replace the Leopard 2 and Leclerc tanks, in service respectively in the German and French armies. The project risked failure due to the divergences between Berlin and Paris, never fully resolved. Last April the two countries managed to unblock the dossier by agreeing on the distribution of industrial tasks. The signed protocol provides for an equal division 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 Duesseldorf.
Last January, in Paris, in the presence of the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu for France and the Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius for Germany, the companies Knds Deutschland, Knds France, Rheinmetall Landsysteme and Thales signed the agreement for the creation of the “Mgcs Project Company GmbH”.
”The next step has been taken in the Franco-German Mgcs armament project,” the three companies stated in a joint note.
All the details.
WHERE THE MGCS PROGRAM STANDS
After the imminent negotiation of a contract with the Federal Office for Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support of the Bundeswehr (BAAINBw), which acts on behalf of the two nations through a Franco-German Combined Project Team (CPT), the Mgcs Project Company will be responsible for the implementation of the next phase of the Mgcs program as prime contractor, the note indicates. In particular, it will consolidate the concept and the main technological pillars of the system.
As reported by Defense News, “officials have stated that the Mgcs will go beyond simply commissioning a new main battle tank for the German and French land forces, which ideally would later be adopted by European partners. The idea is rather to build a suite of interconnected manned and unmanned vehicles to revolutionize land combat through firepower, sensors and artificial intelligence.”
THE MGCS PROJECT COMPANY
Based in Cologne, the Mgcs project company is owned equally by the four companies, Knds Deutschland, Knds France, Rheinmetall and Thales will each hold 25%, with a national work share of 50% in Germany and 50% in France.
“Mgcs is the combination of the unique know-how of France and Germany in the field of battle tanks,” said Knds France CEO Nicolas Chamussy in a post on X, describing the effort as a “structuring program for Europe’s autonomous capability in the area of land combat systems.”
THE LEADERSHIP
The company will be led by German Colonel Stefan Gramolla, as CEO.
ITALY’S INTEREST IN THE PROGRAM
Finally, it should be remembered that the Mgcs has been the subject of “interesting conversations” between France and Italy, as stated by the French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu last April 29 in a meeting with his Italian counterpart, Guido Crosetto, regarding the establishment of the European land hub. Our country has been an observer member of the Mgcs program since summer 2022. At the end of 2023, the Italian defense giant Leonardo and Knds signed a strategic agreement considered by experts “a fundamental step for the establishment of the European Land Industrial Hub.” However, last summer Leonardo and Knds abandoned negotiations to formalize a partnership “to define a common configuration for the Italian Army’s Main Battle Tank program and to develop a broader industrial collaboration.”
Besides Italy, the Netherlands had also expressed interest in the program, along with Belgium, Spain, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, all of which formally became observer members in 2021. However, Mgcs is only Franco-German for now. As reported by Defense News, according to the French subsidiary of Knds, the corporate project between the defense companies Knds, Rheinmetall and Thales for the development of a future battle tank for Germany and France will remain closed to other shareholders for the time being.
LEONARDO’S POSITION
Meanwhile, in our country Leonardo has allied with the German Rheinmetall in the land sector by establishing the joint venture LRMV which plans to deliver the first 100 tanks of the order for the Italian Army by 2029. This was stated by Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani, interviewed last week by Der Spiegel about the collaboration with the German group for the production of land military vehicles, a “natural” partnership between two industrial companies aiming to jointly develop “a combat system for the next 40-50 years, a tank connected to satellites and drones.”
Regarding the comparison between the Leonardo-Rheinmetall axis and the Franco-German Main Ground Combat System, Leonardo’s top executive observed: “The difference is that the Mgcs is only an announcement and we already know how to divide the work in the next 15 years. And we are developing for a concrete order: the Italian army wants to modernize its land systems and will order tanks from us for over 20 billion euros in the coming years.”
EXPERTS’ COMMENT
According to some insiders heard by Startmag “It is clear that the real game, the one on which the (desirable) superiority of NATO armed forces is based, is the so-called multidomain, a game on which industrial balances and arrangements will be established, in a context that cannot be relegated to national programs. The acceleration of recent times could make the Mgcs obsolete, but conversely accelerate programs and collaborations between countries, in order to create coherent clusters around the main weapon systems.”
Thus, they continue “A complex game, where politics plays a significant role, agreements like the Trinity House Agreement between Germany and the UK mark important milestones, similarly the close cooperation between Scandinavian countries also in the land sector, common vehicle programs such as the CAVS to which Germany has joined along with Finland and others. Agreements between countries followed by industrial ones.”
“In a Europe that must decide how to direct its Defense policy and industry, it is not just about building the best weapon system but rather making it interact. Ultimately a test of dialogue but also a great opportunity to develop the industry,” conclude the insiders.
