22 June 2021
The benefits of a new Eurotank would be of great importance for the interoperability of European armies. A tank created by France and Germany (MGCS) would allow each involved to use it in joint operations.
Nowadays, if the subject of a Eurotank is raised, it is thanks to the progress of a military programme launched nine years ago in 2012. The objective of the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS), the Franco-German programme launched in 2012, is to prepare the succession of the German Bundeswehr’s Leopard 2 tank and the French Army’s Leclerc tank by 2035. In 2035, the Leopard 2 will have been in service for over 60 years, and the limits to its development will be reached because of the basic technical framework.
It is important to remember that the MGCS will be a land superiority system, whose infrastructures can be deployed to occupy the ground, detect any enemy target, and destroy it. The MGCS must provide protection against all types of direct threats and even some indirect threats. In short, we can say that it will provide its owners with unprecedented destruction and detection capabilities.
It is interesting to quickly review the history of the creation of this project. On 12th May 2020, the Federal Office for Equipment, Information Technology, and In-Service Support of the Bundeswehr, launched the system architecture definition phase. According to General Charles Beaudouin, Director of Plans and Programs at the French Army Staff: ” Les composantes de ce projet s’inscriront dans des coopérations européennes. Comme pour le Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) et le Common Indirect Fire System (CIFS), programmes franco-allemand déjà annoncés, il s’agira de déterminer ensuite les coopérations possibles pour les successeurs du Tigre et du VBCI. “
Nowadays, the call for applications launched by German defence officials to join the Eurotank project will allow new European partners to join it. These partners could be NATO countries and elsewhere, in agreement with the conditions pre-established by Germany and France. The Franco-German meeting of the Defence and Security Council on February 5, 2021, has shown that some countries could become full project partners later on.
Major German defence industry companies are at the heart of this project, including Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. For France, the French company Nexter is also part of the project, in partnership with the Krauss-Maffei Group.
But as with any industry component, by the time it is released, the Eurotank could be truly outdated. Indeed, the British are also developing a new tank which will arrive in 2027, sooner than the Eurotank. The Challenger 3 has many aspects that in some areas are much better than the characteristics of NATO tanks and European forces in general. However, it is interesting to note that the German defence industry supplies one of the components of the Challenger 3, so not everything happens in the UK when it comes to making the best tank.
When discussing possible existing performance differences between the next Eurotank and the Challenger 3, we mainly note the rifle used on the British tanks, which has better shooting standards. Indeed, the Challenger 3 tank is made with an L55A1, much more efficient than the European rifle already seen on the M1 Abrams tank.
The British ammunition of these rifles is made of Uranium, one of the best elements for the destructive performance of the ammunition. The British tank armour is also the strongest to date, with a combination of specific metals not yet seen on tanks in the West. Finally, in addition to a new turret, the Challenger 3 is equipped with state-of-the-art optronic equipment to improve day and night targeting capabilities, modular armour and an active protection system as well as automatic target detection and tracking system.
It is important to note that the Challenger 3 is already scheduled for retirement in 2040, when the Eurotank should be delivered to the European armed forces. Two generations of British tanks would therefore be released while the Eurotank is still being developed and built. It is, therefore, logical to ask ourselves whether the Eurotank will be able to dethrone the Challenger 3 from the best tanks and from the outclassing in this field that the British are showing in the European and NATO armed forces.
Nevertheless, it is known that Berlin is in discussion with London about the MGCS. Thus, perhaps we will be able to observe British participation in the Franco-German project, which would fill or even erase the gap in performance and characteristics embodied by the British tank projects.
Finally, in Germany, the Eurotank is not the only project on the defence industry agenda and military matters. For the Bundestag, industry contracts in eight development areas will also be financed later this year such as “global protection”, “collaborative combat”, “crew simulation test”, “automated navigation and mobility”, “main effector and ammunition”, “automated firing sequence”, “mobility test” and “improved sensor suite”.
Franco-German cooperation in this project does not stop with the Eurotank. Indeed, many other projects, whose contracts linked to the most advanced technologies, are planned for 2023, such as a gun-launched missile and a high-energy laser system.
Written by Antoine DECQ, Researcher at Finabel – European Army Interoperability Centre
Sources
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