This summer, the German Rheinmetall did not miss its chance, after the failure of negotiations between KNDS and Leonardo, for the modernization of the fleet of combat tanks and infantry fighting vehicles of the Italian Army.
Barely had the divorce been consummated, last June, and perhaps even while discussions were underway with KNDS, the Italian Leonardo turned to KNDS's German competitor, Rheinmetall, to announce, in July, the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, covering the co-design and manufacture of a thousand infantry fighting vehicles, and 132 combat tanks, based on the Lynx and the Panther, which the German industrialist had previously struggled to export.
The negotiations between the Italian industrialist and his German counterpart did not drag on. Indeed, the two groups announced the creation of the joint venture to carry out this program, but also to get their hands on the opulent market for the replacement of tanks and heavy tracked combat armored vehicles, which is opening today on the international scene.
In this section:
LRMV, a balanced Rheinmetall Leonardo joint venture to attack the market for the renewal of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles
Named Leonardo Rheinmetall Military Vehicles, or LRMV, the joint venture is 50% owned by Leonardo and 40% by Rheinmetall, and 10% by the Italian subsidiary of the German group, and will be based in La Spezia, which already houses Leonardo's construction of land military vehicles.
The press conference, to announce the creation of LRMV, was the occasion for Roberto Cingolani, CEO of Leonardo, and Armin Papperger, the effervescent director of Rheinmetall, to insist on the European dimension of the initiative, presented as a major step forward in the consolidation of European industry, in line with the perception widely advocated by Italy in this area.
Italian KF41 Lynx ready in two years for a contract of 1000 heavy tracked infantry fighting vehicles
Beyond the essential episodes of mutual congratulations, this announcement gives, above all, the starting signal for one of the most ambitious programs in terms of construction of armored vehicles, in Europe, since the construction of the Leopard 2 by Krauss-Maffeï Wegmann, in the 70s and 80s.
In fact, LRMV will design not one, but 16 different models of tracked armoured vehicles, based on Rheinmetall's KF41 Lynx, and produce, by 2040, more than a thousand of these armoured vehicles for the Italian army, in particular to replace the Dardo infantry fighting vehicles currently in service.
To achieve this, LRMV has been given a comfortable budget of €15 billion, the largest armoured vehicle market awarded in Europe since the end of the Cold War, and an equally comfortable unit cost of €15 million per armoured vehicle, knowing that prices will vary greatly depending on the versions of the armoured vehicles, as well as the equipment that will be integrated into them.
In doing so, the Italian Army will have the largest and most modern tracked land armoured forces in Western Europe, clearly outclassing Germany and Great Britain in this area.
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I totally agree with you, what do we expect from these programs that stretch on forever, satisfy no one and end up being so complicated and so expensive. We didn't need anyone to make the Rafale and the budget returns come back to us in full, even if the takeoff was laborious (thanks to some politicians that I won't name). Currently we have the capacity to manufacture a tank that could sell (EMBT) but we will still wait 20 years to release a product when the market is saturated. Let's stop these inopportune and expensive cooperations, especially with Germany which then prohibits you from selling it if it doesn't like it (see Eurofighter and A400.
The French government has increased its debt to finance social action and not industrial development, leaving France unable to enter the race to supply armored vehicles. In addition, the MGCS, despite an innovative concept of a system of systems and not a simple MBT, will have difficulty being finalized, between Germany's desire to promote the commercial life of the latest versions of Leopard and the French army was not necessarily oriented towards the MBT.
Yesterday I was finally happy to be French and its BITD with ASTER, today yet another day where we wake up with a pain in the bottom and the feeling of incompetence at all levels in addition to the realization that there is only us who believe in a Europe and play collectively.
Sad day for a poor country (both literally and figuratively)...
An Italo-German alliance seems quite European to me.
A European defense cannot simply be the adoption of our products...all the more so since in this area we have nothing to offer other than a political project without a credible industrial base.
(The Scorpenes have MTU diesels and it's even critical for the "evolved" ones!)
Being in great financial difficulty, we are quite dependent on the Gulf States... even more... Is this more reassuring than US dependence for other Europeans who are necessarily thinking in 15 years?
Hello,
I can agree with some of your response on certain points but the essence of what I wanted to express is not called into question by your response.
Yes, the European notion of LRMV is incontestable and personally I am delighted that truly European industrialists are emerging.
By the way, I never said or thought that France should never buy anything except what it produces itself, AIRBUS is not French in the strict sense and I am proud of this company. On the other hand, being European and claiming it and buying outside of Europe seems absurd to me if a credible offer exists in the Union.
Nevertheless, and this is my point, my great disappointment, anger or call it what you will comes above all from the game that Rheinmetall and Germany are playing as is explicitly stated in the article and in others on the same subject, which aims with this alliance to "play solo" in this armored vehicle market even if it means torpedoing European cooperation programs or weakening them sufficiently in a purely capitalistic logic to destroy KNDS and its Franco-German offer.
I have no illusions, the companies of the French BITD are also capitalists, but as a French person, I am keen that they contribute at least to a shared objective in the union without going it alone or destroying the chances of others who have this objective, except that is what I have seen so far.
In Germany, companies are not as subject to the state as in France and even influence politics enormously according to their interests; unlike in France, where it is the politician who largely dictates the industrialist's development plan. We can say that it is good or bad, but it nevertheless allows for consistency and reduces inconsistencies.
From what I see, France, due to its significant financial difficulties, relies heavily on partnerships for the development of new systems and only forms strategic alliances with Europeans in line with its political strategy. We are not developing new aircraft with India, we are building with them and at home, but the Rafale F5 will not be Franco-Indian, for example. Similarly, the Rafale is French and does not compete with the Eurofighter on a strategic part of its operational spectrum (naval + nuclear), so it is legitimate that we have our own vector, the pooling of specs was not retained at the genesis of the program and it will be the same problem with the SCAF on which I would not bet much, just like the MGCS from now on.
Our excellent anti-aircraft defense is 100% European with our Italian friends, just like our surface naval program which is in strong partnership with Greece and Italy. The new SCORPENE/BARACUDA are built with 100% European technology (you confirm this) in partnership with the locals. The same goes for space which is in very strong partnership with Italy, Germany having recently decided not to use Ariane 6 for a satellite launch for the benefit of the USA, etc.
In short, there are plenty of examples; France is very often criticized for its apparent obsession with pursuing European programs, even if it means wasting time and money (a lot!) instead of going it alone and being more efficient; I just note that Germany does not have this modesty and does not hesitate to explicitly exclude us politically and industrially (European Sky Shield) from the alliances it forms and in which it involves the whole of Europe at our expense and for the benefit of non-Europeans (Israel and the USA for example). I have no memory here of a strategic program that France is leading or participating in that does not involve Europeans (AQUILA for example); the sale and construction of French equipment abroad is excluded, which is quite normal.
I imagine that if France acts like this it is precisely because of our financial situation that you mention and that I also denounce, however if European alliances normally serve a purpose, it is precisely to bring financial and political visibility, so we cannot be blamed for trying to the end, while Germany does not have this determination, except ultimately to oust us where and everywhere it can.
I hope I was clearer and less emotional than my first message.
To complete my point, I bring a source which although not speaking directly on the same subject seems to go in my direction with regard to the attitude of our German neighbor and the hostile policy that it maintains towards us: https://www.ege.fr/infoguerre/vente-darmes-la-menace-allemande
I agree with you and these pseudo French/German cooperations only ever result in delays, additional costs, industrial plundering and loss of customers for us.