Leclerc Evolution: France has 8936+1 good reasons to acquire the new KNDS tank

On the occasion of the last Eurosatory exhibition, two French equipment attracted particular attention: the Caesar MkII and the Leclerc Evolution, both presented by KNDS France, formerly Nexter.

Indeed, these two land combat systems synthesize, in a way, all the potential that French engineering can bring in terms of land combat, by being at the same time mobile, efficient and innovative, while not giving in to the hypertechnologism which sometimes affects this sector, and thus offer very attractive prices, at least for the Caesar MkII, since the price of the Leclerc Evolution has not been mentioned.

However, the fate of these two pieces of equipment could be very different. Indeed, where the Army has already ordered 109 Caesar MK2s to form the backbone of its mobile artillery in the years to come, the Leclerc Evolution has not seemed to generate interest. the interest of the general staff, nor of the DGA and the Ministry of the Armed Forces, bound by budgetary constraints and programs to be completed.

Therefore, if the Caesar MkII has already started its international career, in Belgium and Lithuania, the new tank from KNDS France seems, today, destined to enrich the long lists of high-value equipment, promised for a career exceptional international, but cut down before even having started in their momentum, by questionable considerations.

Indeed, as we will see, Leclerc Evolution not only has the potential to restore to the Army the firepower and maneuver during fierce symmetrical engagements, as well as the mass allowing it to support in the duration of such a commitment.

It also has, in front of it, an international market, addressable by France, more than considerable with 8936 tanks to replace in the world, which is only waiting for a helping hand, let's say rather from the forearm, from the Ministry of the Armed Forces, to be effectively canvassed.

With 200 modernized Leclercs, the Army can only partially fulfill its commitments to NATO

In a previous article, we showed that the French fighter format, aiming to provide the Air Force with 185 combat aircraft, and the Naval Air Force with 40 aircraft, fell far short of needs, in particular with regard to the commitments made by France to NATO.

The same 2013 White Paper, at the origin of the combat aviation format, also decided to reduce the Army's combat tank fleet to 200 examples, among other things. However, this format is barely enough to effectively arm two “heavy” brigades, the very ones which are at the heart of a potential engagement in Central Europe.

The fact is, Paris has also committed, vis-à-vis NATO, to deploy at the request of the Alliance, a division of two brigades and 12 to 15 men, forming a division, and the command capabilities to lead the army corps in the South European theater, around Romania and Bulgaria.

With six organic brigades, subject to some delay, this objective seemed realistic to French planners. However, in this organization chart, only two brigades were classified as heavy, while two brigades, called medium, were similar to motorized infantry brigades. The last two, called light, were made up of Marine infantry units, the Legion, airborne and mountain troops.

Since then, the war in Ukraine has shown that it was very risky, not to say suicidal, to engage motorized infantry troops, or even light troops, without having the support of heavy armored vehicles and artillery. , and therefore battle tanks. Furthermore, the attrition observed is such that the absence of reserves, including at divisional level, can quickly prove catastrophic.

However, with only 200 Leclerc tanks, even modernized, the Army does not have the capacity to permanently deploy the two tank regiments necessary to support and accompany the infantry forces of its two brigades, nor the essential reserves. to absorb attrition and rapid wear of equipment.

To meet this need, the creation of at least two additional tank regiments, one per medium brigade, would be necessary, as well as the creation of an operational buffer equivalent to a regiment, for a total of 160 to 190 tanks. additional, but also 2500 to 3000 additional men to be recruited within the Land Operational Force.

In such a model, it is easily possible to transfer the new tanks to the current cuirassier regiments, and to equip the two regiments formed of national guards, and supervised by active soldiers, as well as the reserve regiment, Leclerc MLU, to ensure the rotation of deployed resources, and minimal contact resilience.

However, the investment necessary for such a transformation would mobilize around €4 billion in equipment and infrastructure, and an additional €200 million per year, or more than half of the credits granted by the LPM 2024-2030 to the SCORPION program. We understand, therefore, the reluctance of the Army on this subject, knowing that it has no budgetary margin, and no more room for programmatic maneuver, as its entire fleet is today under pressure.

The Leclerc Evolution, the unexpected solution from KNDS to complete the Army's heavy inventory

The fact remains that the need for additional heavy tanks for the Army is there, and there, and that the potential adversary will have little use for French budgetary explanations, if necessary. It is in this context that the Leclerc Evolution appeared, at the Eurosatory 2024 show.

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