COLOGNE, Germany — The main contractors for the Main Ground Combat System have formed a joint project company to represent industry in upcoming contract negotiations with client nations Germany and France.
The company, based here, represents KNDS Germany, KNDS France, Thales and Rheinmetall as the four parties at the top of a pyramid of suppliers. The contractors are charged with building a futuristic tank while showcasing Europe’s unified arms industry at the same time.
In a joint statement, the companies described the incorporation of the business as a “further significant step” toward fielding the weapon by 2040.
The MGCS program is one of two key weapon projects spearheaded by France and Germany. After haggling over workshare specifics for years, government leaders decided to have Germany lead the tank project while France would oversee a sixth-generation fighter program, the Future Combat Air System.
Officials have said MGCS will go beyond fielding a new main battle tank for German and French ground forces that would ideally be adopted later on by European partners. The idea is, rather, to build a suite of interconnected manned and unmanned vehicles to revolutionize ground combat through firepower, sensors and artificial intelligence.
The project is meant to produce a successor for Germany’s Leopard 2, the most widely used modern battle tank in Western Europe, and France’s Leclerc main battle tank.
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Stefan Gramolla, a colonel in the German Army reserve, is managing director of MGCS Project Company, or MPC, according to the firms’ joint statement.
Gramolla’s LinkedIn profile lists a two-month stint at Rheinmetall as well as a consulting job as his previous career stops.
Next up for the joint company are negotiations with the defense-acquisition departments in Berlin and Paris about the next phase of the MGCS program.
“In particular, it will consolidate the concept and the main technological pillars of the system,” the statement reads.
German and French defense officials last year approved a division of labor in the program. There are eight so-called pillars that cover everything from the chassis to weaponry to protection.
One notable fork in the road will be the selection of a main cannon. France and Germany will initially develop a separate option each, with a winner technology to be picked after testing.
The main gun is considered a key differentiator in future tank concepts, with engineers brooding over projectile size, shot range and ammunition feeder mechanisms.
Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris contributed to this report.
Sebastian Sprenger is associate editor for Europe at Defense News, reporting on the state of the defense market in the region, and on U.S.-Europe cooperation and multi-national investments in defense and global security. Previously he served as managing editor for Defense News. He is based in Cologne, Germany.
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