Definitive cancellation of the joint Franco-German-Spanish sixth-generation FCAS fighter project will with enormous probability also entail cancellation of the joint Franco-German next-generation MGCS tank development project.
French President Emmanuel Macron has already announced the disputed future of this tank in the context of the now-obvious FCAS failure. This is especially true considering work on the joint tank project is progressing quite slowly. At the same time, in Germany itself, the potential termination of joint MGCS development is met in positive tones.
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Official MGCS tank concept and vehicles based on it / Open source image
Hartpunkt directly notes that unlike aircraft manufacturing, in the armored vehicle question, the German defense industry faces no risk of falling behind in key technologies and know-how. If the MGCS project does not receive further development, Germany can use the existing base for its own development of a new main battle tank.
After all, Germany has a completely closed cycle of armored vehicle production, active production lines with working supply chains, and its own broad customer base. As well as, naturally, extensive experience in armored vehicle development. After all, the Bundeswehr itself must expand and rearm, meaning it is a huge client in itself. As the publication emphasized, termination of the MGCS program may also represent an opportunity for German industry.
Defense Express notes that both projects, FCAS and MGCS, were initiated at the same time, back in 2017. The European MGCS tank has been stalling quite actively since 2023, as merely creating the consortium to develop it took 6.5 years MGCS Project Company GmbH with participation from both KNDS divisions, Rheinmetall, and Thales was created only in January 2025.
Objectively, France occupied the leading position in fighter development, having corresponding capabilities for independent aircraft creation thanks to a closed cycle and experience. With the tank, however, Germany’s advantage was obvious, as its Leopard 2 received significantly more orders than the French Leclerc.
Leopard 2 / Open source photo
This is precisely why, when the FCAS development scandal became public, Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier in France directly stated that the French can create a fighter, while the Germans not necessarily. Germany can now quite possibly take an essentially analogous position, as ultimately on the tank question Germans can definitely afford sovereign decisions, based on the greater commercial success of their offering in the export market.
At the same time, France objectively has fewer competencies for tank production. KNDS France last produced tracked vehicles almost 17 years ago, while not developing them for 35 years already. Therefore, there are quite substantial complaints that the French simply forgot how to make new tanks.This naturally does not exclude the possibility of producing individual components, for example, guns, fire control systems, but the chassis, engine, overall design, and production are questionable.
Overcoming these problems, which France is quite capable of, means such development will be more expensive and unlikely to pay off through order volume. Especially considering that currently French ground forces more closely resemble entirely expeditionary forces.
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