Germany launches new attempt for battle tank alliance – without France (Source paywalled and in German, translation in comments)
by P4ris3k
Germany launches new attempt for battle tank alliance – without France (Source paywalled and in German, translation in comments)
by P4ris3k
11 comments
# Germany launches new attempt for battle tank alliance
Germany, Italy, Sweden and Spain want to develop a new main battle tank. The project competes with the ongoing cooperation between Berlin and Paris.
Berlin, Brussels, Paris Germany is making a new attempt to develop a successor to the Leopard 2. Led by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall, a new main battle tank is to be designed with partners from Italy, Spain and Sweden, industry and political sources told Handelsblatt.
The contracts for the alliance were signed a few days ago, and together the partners now want to apply for funding from the European Defence Fund (EDF). A three-digit million sum is at stake.
The alliance comes as a surprise, as Germany has already signed a cooperation agreement with France. In 2017, the governments agreed on a main battle tank project called Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) to replace the Leopard 2 and the French Leclerc tank from the middle of the next decade.
The two countries entrusted the project to KMW and French tank builder Nexter, which have since merged through the joint holding company KNDS. Germany also involved the Düsseldorf-based arms manufacturer Rheinmetall – but this caused resentment in France. The dispute over the division of labor blocked the armaments project.
Against this backdrop, the German government is likely to have stepped up planning for the new venture with Spain, Sweden and Italy. With KMW and Rheinmetall, the two heavyweights from Germany are already involved in MGCS. The situation at KMW is particularly critical because of its link with Nexter to KNDS.
The German government has put pressure on KMW to be included as a purely German player, it is now said. Sister Nexter is out of the picture, said a person familiar with the plans, “at least for now.”
Officially, Germany and France are holding on to MGCS. French government circles would not comment on the German joining forces with other European partners, referring to ongoing talks between Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) and his French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu. The tank project will be discussed at the planned Franco-German government retreat in early October, the statement said.
A spokesman for the German Defense Ministry confirmed in Berlin on Monday that there were delays in the MGCS project. But no decisions had yet been made for or against a continuation, he said. Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit, when asked if he still believed the Franco-German tank project would succeed, said, “Hope always dies last.”
KNDS and Nexter would not comment on the new development. “There’s still too much in flux,” said a person familiar with the proceedings. However, even if MGCS continues to operate alongside the new four-nation alliance, the development is a setback for Franco-German defense cooperation.
Already on the Future Combat Aircraft System (FCAS), the governments could only laboriously agree on further elaboration with the participating companies Airbus and Dassault. When it came to the modernization of the joint Tiger combat helicopter, Berlin rejected the idea altogether.
Germany and France cooperate on many defense projects. But the cooperation is not easy. The Élysée Palace does its best to promote the French defense industry and also helps with exports in order to strengthen its foreign policy.
The federal government, on the other hand, has kept the industry at arm’s length for many years and has increasingly restricted the sale of weapons systems abroad.
**Scholz wants to strengthen the arms industry**
It was not until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) gave defense companies a higher priority. The industry is to be strengthened in order to increase the country’s defense capability, according to political circles. The German armed forces are to be equipped with new equipment with investments worth billions. Berlin wants to take a leading position in land-based systems in particular. KMW and Rheinmetall are central to this.
In addition to the political dimension, there are also other problems. For example, the countries cannot agree on technological elements of the MGCS. France wants a tank that is as light as possible, along the lines of the Leclerc, they say. The vehicle would thus be easier to transport, but the soldiers would be less well protected than in the Leopard 2. The Bundeswehr, on the other hand, traditionally relies on heavy armor, which makes the tanks heavier and bulkier.
Brussels officials confirmed the new tank initiative, which also involves Sweden’s Saab and Italy’s Leonardo Group. The business alliance hopes to receive funding from the European Defense Fund. This is endowed with a total of eight billion euros, of which 5.3 billion is available to support cross-border defense projects.
The grants are intended to help bring Europe’s fractured defense sector closer together and develop military capabilities “crucial to the strategic autonomy and resilience of the Union and its member states.”
In preparing for the EU’s new “Strategic Compass,” which member states adopted last March, the European Defense Agency (EDA) had identified six fields with the greatest potential for joint development and procurement projects: Main Battle Tanks, Soldier Battle Systems, Airspace Defense, Improved Deployment Capability, Space Defense and Patrol Vessels.
If several countries develop a tank jointly, this has the advantage, in addition to lower costs, of reducing the variety of types in European armies, which makes logistics and spare parts supply easier. In the meantime, other countries such as Poland had also signaled their interest in participating in MGCS. But nothing came of it.
In Brussels, it is an open secret that Chancellor Scholz is skeptical about defense cooperation with France. Diplomats report that Germany is frustrated by the fact that economic benefits from these projects in the past have mainly gone to the French. Scholz now wants to prioritize German interests, even if Franco-German relations suffer as a result.
**Warning against small-scale statehood**
Critics fear that the disagreements between Berlin and Paris will thwart efforts to Europeanize the defense industry. “The nation-state small-scale structure of the European defense industries is and remains a problem. This leads to higher unit prices and an unfortunate lack of compatibility in our national capabilities,” said David McAllister (CDU), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the EU Parliament.
The idea of pulling together across Europe to develop a next-generation battle tank should therefore not be abandoned, he said. “The different ideas must be harmonized without delay,” McAllister demanded. “An end to the Franco-German partnership on this major project would have a devastating external effect – within the European Union and beyond.”
Translated with [www.DeepL.com/Translator](http://www.DeepL.com/Translator) (free version)
If everything is true, the main problem is still Germany, so good luck for Italy , Sweden and Spain.
Hopefully they also don’t get the money from Eu fund because nothing will be done.
And no idea how they are unhappy financially when the french company that was in the first project is franco-german.
They really want like we said the butter and the butter money .
Considering KMW doesn’t really exist anymore as an independent company this is a bit weird idea. They even just announced that KMW brand will be phased out in favor of KNDS. Why would the French state, which controls 50% of the company, agree to develop systems without involvement of the French?
Tbf, the franco-german programs were pushed by France to increase european independance, and accepted by Germany to get industrial knowledge.
We have a real expertise when it comes to dismantling our industrial edge (in the few sectors there is still some) for fuck all.
Good luck to their new partners
Apparently France tried to pull the same bs as with other projects and bring as much influence and production capabilities as possible to France (e.g. FCAS, Airbus), without taking the other partners into consideration
Good. Germany has always been a shitty partner for defense. France should focus on reliable countries like Belgium, Greece and even outside Europe. Not the same budget, tho.
Well Mr Putin your invasion of Ukraine has now forced countries to band together and beef up their military hardware
It’s incredible. Nexter complied with every demand, even to the point of settling for a third of the program when it was initially supposed to be 50/50, and now gets thrown out after a merger with KMW?
What kind of antics are these? After Germany recently dropped the Tiger mk3, the MAWS, the CIFS, the mess of their leadership on the Eurodrone, and now the MGCS, I see no reason to continue with them on the FCAS, it’s suicide.
Macron probably needs to call Beijing first to make sure this is ok.
I’ve said it before but I firmly believe that the only way the EU can integrate further in everything from military to social questions is to do so in smaller groups where interests are more aligned and cooperation is easier.
Eventually maybe these groups can start to work together aswell but going in somewhat different directions in groups of half a dozen or so countries in the EU will atleast get stuff done.
AFAIR:
German-French arms deals and cooperations are an idea of Helmut Schmidt and his french counterpart at the time.
The idea being that no matter which govermental sentiment was present at any time in either country, french and german defense industry could ALWAYS seek a route through the other one to make arms deal happen with a 3rd Party legaly
So if for example Berlin won’t allow Rheinmetal Tanks/guns to go to ukraine, Saudi Arabia etc. Paris could always allow the export, this however would mean that the production would have to move over to france. (Rheinmetal subcontracts Nexter etc etc.).
Loss of jobs and production would be enough to blackmail any government, and so the construct served both countries well for years.
It’s a sad fact, you still need an arms industry. And that industry won’t survive or be competetive from just sitting around.
You need some level of money influx, and a tax payers budget is increasingly unpopular in times of peace.
Schmidt secured the operations of an arms industry in europe by handing them a way to blackmail the governments.