This is how Leonardo with Knds will create a European tank hub
Under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence, Leonardo signed an agreement with Knds, a group born from the aggregation of the French Nexter and the German Kmw, to work together in the land armaments sector and "create a true European defense group". All the details
Leonardo has found his ally for the land defense pole and for building the new generation of tanks.
The Italian defense giant and Knds, the group born from the aggregation of Kmw and Nexter, two of the main European producers of military land systems based in Germany and France, in concert with the Italian Ministry of Defense, "have signed an alliance strategy to define and further develop a closer collaboration". The signing by Roberto Cingolani for Leonardo and Frank Haun for Knds (in the photo) took place on 13 December at the Segredifesa headquarters.
“The objective of the agreement – we read in the note from the Piazza Monte Grappa company – is the creation of a European Defense group and the strengthening of collaboration in the field of terrestrial electronics”.
In fact, Leonardo has been pursuing the consolidation of the European defense industry for some time.
At the beginning of November, on the occasion of Leonardo's first nine months' results , Cingolani himself had declared that the company was “on some alliances that must create European hubs in fundamental defense sectors. Creating European hubs means creating objects, which will not only be Italian or German or French." The CEO of Leonardo also revealed that the company aimed to join the next generation Leopard 2 tank program (produced by the German Kmw and Rheimmetall).
Not only that, "the strategic alliance will allow the implementation of collaboration programs between European nations through the strengthening of their industrial bases and the development of the future generation of platforms for armored vehicles, including the Mgcs (Main Ground Combat System)" . The MGCS is a Franco-German project by KNDS in cooperation with Rheinmetall.
Our country claims a strengthened industrial role in the land sector, aiming to get on board the Franco-German program for the Franco-German tank of the future.
All the details.
IN THE FOLLOWING OF THE DPP 2023-2025
As the joint press release explains, the agreement is in line both with the strategy defined by the Italian Ministry of Defense in the Defense Programmatic Document 2023-2025, and with the Action Plan of the Agreement recently signed by the governments of Italy and Germany.
Last October 16, the Italian Defense published and transmitted to Parliament the multi-year planning document (DPP) for Defense for the three-year period 2023-2025. The latter formalizes the expenditure forecast of 8.2 billion for the purchase of the German Leopard 2 tanks (produced by the German Kmw and Rheimmetall) and "the start of collaboration programs at European level for the development of land-based future generation, such as the Armored Infantry Combat System [Aics] and the Main Ground Combat System", as recently illustrated by Minister Crosetto in a hearing before the Defense commissions of the Chambers.
LEONARDO'S PARTICIPATION WITH KNDS IN THE LEOPARD 2 PROCUREMENT PROGRAM
Furthermore, Leonardo and KNDS have signed an agreement for the joint implementation of the procurement program of the Main Battle Tank (MBT) based on the Leopard 2 A8.
The companies will collaborate in the development, construction and maintenance of the Leopard 2 A8 for the Italian Army, as well as support platforms. The joint objective is to further increase production and development capabilities in Italy and to use them for future European and export projects, the note indicates.
Overall, these are around 300 vehicles, including Mbt combat and special variants, recalls Rid – Rivista Italiana Difesa . According to Rid , an "Italianized" tank should emerge, essentially we could call it the Leopard 2A8 IT, i.e. an MBT equipped with a fire control system, communication and command and control equipment (and, probably, also elements of the tower). provided by Leonardo (developments derived from the Centauro II and Ariete C-2 programmes).
AND NOT ONLY?
The press release also recalls that "the Italian Ministry of Defense is currently working on two important programs for the renewal of its Land Forces: the procurement of Leopard MBTs and support vehicles, as well as new Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs) known as Aics and combat support systems”.
In fact, the 2023-2025 DPP also formalizes the spending forecast of 15 billion for the acquisition of a system of systems for heavy infantry (Armored Infantry Combat System – Aics), focused on both combat platforms (Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicle – Aifv) be supportive.
THE RESULTS
The German magazine Spiegel also reported that this collaboration will handle armaments contracts worth almost 50 billion euros. It will also involve the creation of a new production site for the Leopard in Italy.
HOW THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN LEONARDO AND KNDS WILL DEVELOP
For Reuters , which cites a source involved in the negotiations, the collaboration between the parties "could range from flexible cooperation to the integration of Leonardo's military part into the KNDS".
This means thinking about the future of Oto Melara, Leonardo's land arms subsidiary. The former Finmeccanica, together with CNH Industrial, controls the Iveco-Oto Melara (CIO) consortium, leader of the land armaments industry.
In 2021, the former Finmeccanica group had put Oto Melara up for sale together with Wass, a sale that remained on stand-by. Meanwhile, the Defense has confirmed its intention to buy the Leopard 2 tanks, produced by the German Kmw and Rheimmetall (both had made an offer for the Leonardo subsidiary). Now the group led by Roberto Cingolani is aiming to involve Oto Melara in the program.
ROME EVER CLOSER TO BERLIN IN DEFENSE
Finally, the announcement of the alliance between the Italian Leonardo and the Franco-German KNDS comes after the relaunch of the MGCS program last September by the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius.
Launched in 2017 by Paris and Berlin under German leadership, the MGCS program is expected to replace the Leopard 2 and Leclerc tanks, in service in the German and French armies respectively, by 2035. Our country has been calling for membership for some time. But Rome would not be satisfied with just any place in the Franco-German project. “According to reliable sources, the Italians expect a third of the MGCS, without having observer status, to participate in this program as soon as it is developed” La Tribune recently claimed, adding that it would be “A scenario almost identical to what Spain is managed to obtain in the Fcas (Future Air Combat System) program ”.
Signs of a rapprochement between Rome and Berlin were visible as early as last autumn, observes Le Figaro, recalling that Kmw and Leonardo have formed a consortium with the Swedish Saab to obtain funding from Brussels for the tank of the future . While relations between Paris and Rome are not the best… comments Le Figaro . Perhaps implicitly referring to the Safran-Microtecnica affair.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/ecco-come-leonardo-con-knds-dara-vita-a-un-polo-europeo-sui-carri-armati/ on Thu, 14 Dec 2023 07:09:48 +0000.