The defense ministers of Germany and FranceBoris Pistorius and Sébastien Lecornu, today announced a preview “historical” regarding the new generation main ground combat system (MGCS) when referring to the agreement in principle on the tanks that will replace the German Leopard and the French Leclerc.
“Today we have made great progress. It is not an exaggeration to call it historic for a project like this. “We have agreed on the distribution of all the tasks of this great project,” Pistorius said in a joint press conference with his French counterpart.
He stressed that this is not a mere update of the Leclerc or the Leopard, but rather a “something completely new” that “will be and must be a pioneer” in the future as a ground combat system.
He recalled that both countries have always agreed that France has leadership in the future air combat system (FCAS). “due to his extraordinary abilities in this field” and Germany has it in the future ground combat system.
He added that production will be divided into fifty% between the industries of both nations and announced that after reaching this agreement, on April 26 he will travel to Paris to sign the corresponding Memorandum of Understanding there.
With regard to both the MGCS and the FCAS, Pistorius was convinced that despite the new war scenario with the war in Ukraine and the use of drones, whose mass production is affordable in economic terms, these two projects remain the suitable, “because precisely they anticipate and must anticipate the challenges of the future,” which include electronic warfare and anti-drone use and defense.
Lecornu, for his part, referred to the MGCS as a “generational leap” from a technological point of view.
He stated that this is a structuring program for the armies of both countries with an impact also for Europe and NATO as a whole, since it will create interoperability for the different armies at the European level.
In the case of FCAS, in a more advanced phase, the French minister announced that it has also been agreed with his Spanish counterpart, Margarita Robles, to call another trilateral meeting in December to hear from the engineering teams of the different companies about the progress. carried out in order to be able to make public the fulfillment of expectations at the end of the year.
Regarding the MGCS, Pistorius pointed out that it is about putting something in place that will be operational in 2040 or beyond, so it will incorporate precisely all development, including artificial intelligence.
Lecornu, for his part, stressed the importance of constantly ensuring at each phase that the programs are always updated.
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Source: Gestion
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