German-French agreement on the new MGCS main battle tank signed

The Federal Ministry of Defense announced today at noon the signing of two agreements on the future heavy land combat system between Germany and France.

„Das unter deutscher Führung umzusetzende Vorhaben Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) soll ab Mitte der 2030er-Jahre die deutschen Kampfpanzer Leopard 2 und die französischen Leclerc-Kampfpanzer ablösen. Mit dem Vorhaben setzen Deutschland und Frankreich ein wichtiges Signal für die europäische Zusammenarbeit in der Verteidigungspolitik“, so das Verteidigungsministerium in der heutigen Mitteilung. „Verteidigungsministerin Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer und ihre französische Amtskollegin Florence Parly haben ein Rahmenabkommen (Framework Agreement), in dem Projektorganisation und Managementstrukturen festgelegt werden, unterzeichnet. Aufgrund der Corona-Lage haben sich die Ministerinnen nicht zur gemeinsamen Unterzeichnung treffen können.“

The Leopard 2 and Leclerc main battle tanks introduced into the German and French armed forces were designed in the 1980s and have since undergone extensive improvements in combat performance. Since these battle tanks are to be replaced by 2035, Germany and France launched the joint MGCS project in 2012. The project is divided into five major phases: operational needs analysis, concept study, development and technological capability demonstration, integration and system demonstration and ultimately the production of the system. The first two phases have already been successfully completed. However, there is currently no binational prioritization of individual requirements (high level requirements).

There is a detailed description of the current planning status including the desired capabilities of the MGCShere.

“Both countries should benefit equally from the cooperation, which is why the contracts to be concluded are based on 50 percent financing between Germany and France. “In addition, both nations should receive sufficient intellectual property rights for the future intended use of the work results,” writes the Ministry of Defense on the contents of the agreement. “The ministers have therefore also signed an implementing agreement (Implementing Arrangement 1), which forms the basis for commissioning a system architecture definition study. Only recently did the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag clear the way for this two-year study to be commissioned. Here too, Germany and France share the costs. The system architecture is a prerequisite for the development of a technology demonstrator with which the German and French requirements for the MGCS can be checked.”

Dorothee Frank

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