Main Ground Combat System: The Powerhouse Tank Germany and France Want

We support our Publishers and Content Creators. You can view this story on their website by CLICKING HERE.

Key Points and Summary: The Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) is a Franco-German project to develop a next-generation main battle tank, replacing the aging Leopard 2 and Leclerc tanks.

-Spearheaded by KNDS and Rheinmetall, the MGCS aims to address challenges exposed by the Ukraine war, including the threats posed by drones, loitering munitions, and advanced anti-tank missiles.

-It promises improved survivability with advanced active protection systems, AI-enhanced situational awareness, and a powerful 130mm or 140mm main gun.

-Far more than a replacement, MGCS represents a comprehensive rethink of battlefield needs, focusing on multi-domain integration and future-proof capabilities to ensure dominance in modern and future conflicts.

The Main Ground Combat System: Europe’s Next-Generation Battle Tank

The Main Ground Combat System, or MGCS, is a Franco-German initiative striving to develop a next-generation main battle tank to replace the aging German Leopard 2 and French Leclerc tanks.

While highly capable in their prime, both tanks have grown long in the tooth and are nearing the limits of their adaptability in response to changes on the battlefield, as shown by the war in Ukraine.

The MGCS, being developed by the KNDS consortium Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Nexter, alongside Rheinmetall, wants to develop an advanced and adaptable next-generation main battle tank with room to adapt to threats in the future.

The Legacy Tanks: Leopard 2 and Leclerc

Germany’s Leopard 2, introduced in the late 1970s, is one of the most widely deployed MBTs in the world, valued for its firepower, mobility, and protection. The Leopard 2 has been steadily upgraded since its introduction and customized by various end users intent on optimizing the platform for their specific needs.

The French Leclerc entered service much later, in the early 1990s. The tank received recognition for an advanced fire control system and autoloader.

However, both main battle tanks are increasingly seen as ill-prepared to survive against more modern threats and have little room to grow by integrating increasingly networked operations and advanced sensor suites and addressing the challenges posed by unmanned systems.

Current Challenges for Main Ground Combat System 

The war in Ukraine has exposed weaknesses in current main battle tank designs and called their role on the modern battlefield into question. Not only have anti-tank guided missiles like the American Javelin proved their worth in decimating the Soviet-era armored vehicles they were designed to engage, but new threats like loitering munitions and drones have underscored the need for better survivability via networked defense systems.

Active protection systems, which, in essence, aim to shoot down incoming projectiles and cause them to prematurely detonate or otherwise throw them off course, have become one area of focus for protection growth areas. Better situational awareness and leveraging of real-time monitoring systems are also areas that could better counter the drone threat.

Ukraine currently fields myriad armored vehicles, tanks, and other Western-supplied kit. While this equipment has been a boon to Ukraine’s embattled defenders, it has underscored the importance of robust and resilient logistics chains and how critical supplies and spare parts are in getting materiel back into the fight quickly.

The war in Ukraine is shaping future main battle tank design by prioritizing survivability, connectivity, and integration with multi-domain operations. While main battle tanks are by no means obsolete—despite what many commentators would have you believe—future designs will have to address the unmanned, loitering drone threat if they are to survive on the battlefields of the future.

What the MGCS Will Offer

MGCS strives to address the limitations of the Leopard 2 and the Leclerc by prioritizing situational awareness via integrating artificial intelligence and leveraging that technology to analyze more advanced sensors. AI could help tankers more quickly find and identify threats on the battlefield and take steps to address those threats quicker than current generation main battle tanks.

Leclerc Tank. Image Credit: French Military.

Another area for growth over current-generation MBTs is the main gun, with the MGCS’ main gun firepower expected to be greater than that of current MBTs. The project has suggested that the platform could integrate a 130mm or 140mm main gun onto the platform, which would be significantly more significant than the NATO-standard 120mm gun.

Changing the main gun caliber would necessitate a rethink of NATO’s main battle tank standards.

Future Growth

The Main Ground Combat System is not just a new main battle tank that replaces the German Leopard 2 or the French Leclerc. It would be a fundamental rethink of the modern battlefield and what that combat environment’s threats are.

Though the Main Ground Combat System is still in its infancy, it represents a broader reaction in the defense industry to current and future developments.

Leopard 2A4 Tank. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

About the Author: Caleb Larson 

Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.