The German and French Defense Ministers announced on Friday March 22 an agreement on the joint future tank project (MGCS) concerning the distribution of work between manufacturers, a key point for unblocking this project hitherto undermined by divergent interests.
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And finally white smoke appeared. Unexpected, as this structuring industrial project for European defense had been stalled for years. “ We have an agreement », rejoiced the French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu. The MGCS, the tank of the future launched in 2017, is the land equivalent of the Scaf for aviation. A co-production between manufacturers from different nations, and a real industrial minefield.
Initially, in this project there was only Nexter on the French side and Kraus Maffei Wegmann for the Germans. But the emergence in 2019 of the German company Rheinmettall destabilized the fragile structure. Rheinmettal is the German defense giant, the producer of the Leopard tank, the best-selling armored vehicle in Europe. It therefore took four years of tough negotiations to find an agreement that satisfied all parties. A 50/50 distribution, half for Germany, half for France, in all the pillars of the project, the platform, the turret, the gun and other sensors.
The agreement, described as “ historical » on the German side, will be officially ratified on April 26 and opens the way to a demonstrator. It is urgent that the current battle tanks are reaching the end of their life by 2035.