The extreme growth in the number of orders for the production of German Leopard 2 tanks is said to create the risk of further delays in the development of the new Franco-German MGCS (Main Ground Combat System) tank. Susanna Wiegand, head of one of the leading German military-industrial concerns, Renk, a gearbox manufacturer, which also produces gearboxes for the German Leopard 2 tanks, gave this information recently in an interview with the WirtschaftsWoche magazine.
Photo: The MGCS (Main Ground Combat System) tank is to be the main European tank of the future | Rheinmetall / CC BY-NC-SA
“In total, we are registering a request for at least 300 new Leopard 2 tanks. They can be in service for about 40 years. It is necessary to assess from a political point of view what this means for the further implementation of the MGCS program,” said Wiegand, adding that “minimum postponement of its completion” should be expected.
The highly hoped-for MGCS program is hampered by difficult negotiations between French and German companies on the separation of production processes, in which there has been virtually no significant progress since 2021. The prospects are also overshadowed by the fact that Leopard 2 tanks are available, easily modified and significantly cheaper. According to Renk’s boss, these vehicles can remain the priority choice of customers for a long time.
Bild newspaper reported in September 2020 that the new MGCS tank being developed by Germany together with France should enter the market in 2035. It was clarified that in terms of tactical and technical characteristics, the new tank should significantly surpass the Leopard 2, as it will be equipped with a cannon of at least 130 mm, have a hybrid drive with less fuel consumption and stronger, but at the same time lighter armor. The project is implemented jointly by the German companies Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall and the French company Nexter Systems. It should be remembered that the German and French views of the tank as a weapon system have always differed, so certain contradictions are not surprising.
Source: army-technology.com
