Germany and France have laid the foundation for the “main battle tank of the future”. It should be built together by 2040 and also be networked with other weapons.
Germany and France have reached an agreement in principle to jointly build a new tank. In Paris, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and his French colleague Sébastien Lecornu signed a declaration of intent.
The two ministers called this system “the battle tank of the future.” The new tanks should be available to both countries by 2040. It’s not about further developing the current tanks, but about “something completely new” that includes several “interconnected combat vehicles” and is equipped with artificial intelligence, said Pistorius.
The land combat system, known as the “Main Ground Combat System” (MGCS), is the counterpart to the so-called air combat system of the future, Future Combat Air System (FCAS), on which both countries are already working. In the future, MGCS will connect battle tanks with other weapons, such as drones, in a data network.
According to Lecornu, the companies Rheinmetall, KNDS and Thales are in charge of developing and building the system. The aim is to conclude the relevant contracts by the end of the year.
Germany should assume leadership of the MGCS
In principle, France should be in charge of FCAS and Germany of MGCS. Pistorius emphasized that he had no doubt that the tank project would receive a broad majority in the German Bundestag. However, there are still some questions to be clarified.
In the medium term, the tank project should also be open to other countries. Italy and the Netherlands have already expressed interest. This could reduce costs for everyone, but make it even more difficult to regulate responsibilities.
Successor to the “Leopard 2”
The system is intended to follow the “Leopard 2” main battle tanks in Germany and the “Leclerc” in France. Disputes over which location would develop which parts for the new system had delayed planning and led to tensions between Berlin and Paris.
While the German “Leopard 2” continues to sell well, France has not produced “Leclerc” tanks for years.
As early as 2012, there were the first German-French plans to develop a joint tank. French President Emmanuel Macron and then-Chancellor Angela Merkel gave the plans political weight a few years later: in 2018, then-defense ministers Ursula von der Leyen and Florence Parly signed an initial declaration of intent, followed by a framework agreement signed in 2020.