4 arguments in favor of developing a Leclerc 2 tank ahead of the Franco-German MGCS program

The design of a Leclerc 2 tank as an interim solution, pending the MGCS, would have four arguments to put forward: to meet the immediate needs of the Army, to have a versatile platform for specialized tracked armored vehicles, to expand French industrial offer on the international scene and, counter-intuitively, reduce the pressure and the risk of failure of the MGCS program.

Among the many lessons inherited from the conflict in Ukraine, the central role of the battle tank in the land maneuver, whether offensive or defensive, is probably the one that most contradicted many certainties inherited from the end of the Cold War, as well as the two Iraqi wars.

For many armed forces, until recently, the combat tank was a heritage on the verge of obsolescence, faced with the multiplication and densification of threats, with the arrival of increasingly efficient anti-tank systems, including included in the hands of the infantry.

In Ukraine, however, as this was the case in Nagorno-Karabakh two years earlier, it quickly became clear that despite these threats, and the central role taken over by artillery, the battle tank, and more generally heavy armored vehicles, had retained this unique ability to break through enemy lines, as well as to repel enemy attacks.

In fact, and even if the phenomenon had restarted for several years, all the major world and European armies in particular, have once again put the heavy tank at the heart of their planning.

Thus, while the combat tank market experienced a period of dead calm for nearly 20 years, it has experienced dazzling growth over the past three years, including for armies which, until recently, were very much considering seriously to remove this type of armor from their inventory.

France is no exception, even if the Army did everything to maintain such a capability, including during the years 2010-2015, the most critical in budgetary and political terms.

Thus, the Army has maintained 3 cuirassier regiments, each armed with around fifty Leclerc heavy tanks, while two armored regiments have a Leclerc company alongside their infantry combat vehicles, for a total of 220 Leclerc in service to date.

In addition, 200 of these tanks, delivered during the 90s, are being modernized, in particular to integrate the infocentric battle bubble SCORPION alongside the Griffons and Servals replacing the venerable VABs, and the Jaguars replacing the AMX-10RC and ERC-90.

Above all, Paris and Berlin launched, in 2017, a joint program aimed at developing by 2035 the replacement for Leclerc, but also for Leopard 2.

Designated Main Ground Combat System or MGCS, this program meets, like its FCAS counterpart, the replacement of combat aircraft Rafale et Typhoon, numerous industrial and political difficulties, to the point that its sustainability is today more than threatened, as are the targeted deadlines.

If the trajectory followed by Paris and Berlin was reasonable and coherent in 2017, when it was started, the context and the threat have evolved considerably since then, to the point that it could be relevant to consider an acceleration of the MGCS program to respond to it. .

However, given the difficulties encountered by the two countries in their collaboration, such a solution seems difficult to implement, opening the way to a second alternative, the design and construction, in a short time frame, of a direct successor to the char Leclerc, which we will call in this article "Leclerc 2" to mark its direct filiation.

As we will see, France would, in a very factual way, have every interest in engaging in such an approach, both to meet the short and medium term needs of the Army, and to have a platform. versatile track shape capable of accommodating its emerging high-intensity needs. Finally, it would make it possible to seize real industrial opportunities in Europe and around the world.

What could the Leclerc 2 tank be?

Like the Challenger 3 started across the Channel, a Leclerc 2 program would aim to integrate into the existing Leclerc platform, new capabilities resulting from technological advances developed in recent years.

This would involve, for example, providing the armored vehicle with advanced communication and cooperative engagement capabilities, as well as new generation vetronics, like that which equips other programs of the same type, such as the KF-51 Panther German.

The lethality of the tank should also be extended, whether it is a matter of carrying a larger caliber gun like Nexter's ASCALON cannon from 140 mm, or to equip the tank with additional strike capabilities by equipping it with medium-range anti-tank missiles like the Akheron MP.

The tank's survivability would also be increased, with the native integration of a soft kill/hard kill protection system like the new APS Prometeus from Nexter which should already equip the Leclerc MLU, Jaguar and Griffon, as well as a multispectral camouflage system like the Salamander.

This survivability would be increased by equipping it with a remotely operated cupola equipped with a small caliber gun for close protection, particularly against drones and in an urban environment.

Finally, like the trajectory followed across the Atlantic with the AbramsX, it could be relevant to equip the tank with hybrid electric propulsion to increase its autonomy in combat, and giving it stealth movement capabilities.

Beyond a simple stack of new capacities, it would above all be a question of increasing the efficiency of the tank based on technologies actually available now.

This would allow rapid production and entry into service before the end of the decade, while reducing industrial and technological risks, development costs and production costs to a strict minimum.

It would thus be possible to meet the needs of the Army, but also to have a competitive and attractive offer on the international scene, both against the K2 Black Panther South Korean than a possible KF-51 Panther German or American AbramsX.

A critical need for the Army

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