The Army wants to extend its Leclerc tanks until 2045 despite the operational and industrial risks

While several signs suggest a shift in the MGCS program beyond 2040, the Army plans to extend its Leclerc tanks until 2045 if necessary, despite the many risks that such a decision would entail.

While the question of the modernization and extension of the heavy segment of the land armed forces is at the heart of many public debates in Europe, in France the subject was passed over in silence for many months, including during the presentation of the future Military Programming Law 2024-2030.

Thus, while across the Rhine, industrialists and the military have agreed to shift by 10 years (at least) the schedule of the Franco-German Main Ground Combat System program to replace German tanks Leopard 2 and French Leclerc initially for 2035, no official consideration of this state of affairs had been made, or at least communicated.

This is now done, and the solution adopted by the French General Staff is not without raising several critical questions as to the future of the French armies and defense industry.

Questioned by the LFI-Nupes deputy for Hauts de Seine Aurélien Saintoul during the hearings of the defense commission of the national assembly on the new Military Programming Law, the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Pierre Schill, indeed indicated to the national representation that he intended to extend the life of the Leclerc tanks until 2040 or even 2045 to make the connection with the MGCS program.

To achieve this, the CLS specified that the armor would have to be modernized, through the digitization of the turret, the modernization of the sight and the durability of the engine.

On the other hand, no reference was made to certain new capacities retained by other countries such as Germany with the Leopard 2A8 or Great Britain with the Challenger 3, in particular the addition of a hard-kill active protection system or complementary capabilities to the main armament, such as the addition of missiles, drones or a turret to strong travel to engage the drone threat.

It should also be noted that no timetable has been proposed for this new modernization of the Leclerc, even though the current modernization, which consists of adding the Scorpion system to this tank which has hardly evolved since the 90s, is already started.

In fact, General Schill, like the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces General Thierry Burkhard before him, ruled out any possibility of providing the Army with an intermediate generation combat tank which would not only have made it possible to strengthen the Army's engagement capabilities in terms of high-intensity combat, but also to constitute an effective alternative if the MGCS program were to be cancelled, as has already been the case for the Franco-German programs of CIFS artillery, MAWS maritime patrol and more recently, the Tiger III combat helicopter.

Beyond these risks, which are already clearly characterized, the decision of the French General Staff will probably create significant threats to the French defense industry and the maintenance of its skills in the field of heavy armored vehicles, while ratifying, probably definitively, the changeover of France from a status of framework and protective nation in Europe, to that of a nation protected by its allies forming a buffer between the national territory and the Russian bloc.

The rest of this article is for subscribers only

The Classic subscriptions provide access to
all articles without advertising, starting at € 1,99.

Newsletter subscription