Germany and France plan to spend hundreds of millions of euros on the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) program in 2021 to develop a new generation of combat vehicles.
The Forces Operations Blog has reported that France and Germany are looking to spend €200 million for the benefit of the MGCS program in 2021. These funds will allow the three prime contractors, Nexter on the French side and KMW and Rheinmetall on the German side, to start the phase of the building demonstrators of future combat vehicles.
Between 2021 and 2025, the first Main Technological Demonstrators (MTD) will translate into technological solutions the combined functions in the multiplatform system. The design of a prototype by 2028 will follow and, assuming the schedule does not slip in the meantime, the first deliveries around 2035.
MGCS is first and foremost a team of vehicles similar to the Russian Armata family of combat vehicles. This team may involve manned and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) as well as unmanned air vehicles (UAVs).
As part of MGCS will develop the next-generation main battle tank to replace Leopard-2 and Leclerc in near future.
German Leopard-2 and French Leclerc MBTs were designed and developed in the 1970s and 80s and have been significantly upgraded since then. In 2012, France and Germany decided to launch a joint initiative that may lead to a joint program for designing and developing a new Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) in order to replace their tanks.
The general program of European next-generation combat vehicle is estimated at €1.5 billion.
