Joint company formed to take Main Ground Combat System programme forward

The next step has now been taken in the Franco-German Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) programme, the companies associated with the project jointly announced on 17 April 2025.

Following approval by the German Federal Cartel Office, KNDS Deutschland, KNDS France, Rheinmetall Landsysteme and Thales legally incorporated the ‘MGCS Project Company GmbH’ on 10 April 2025 in Cologne, appointing Stefan Gramolla, a colonel in the German Army Reserve, as its managing director.

After the upcoming negotiation of a contract with the Federal Office for Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support of the Bundeswehr (BAAINBw), which is acting on behalf of the two nations through a Franco-German Combined Project Team (CPT), MGCS Project Company will be responsible for implementing the next phase of the programme as the industrial prime contractor. In particular, it will consolidate the concept and the main technological pillars of the system.

Launched as an initiative of the French and German governments in 2017, the MGCS project aims to replace the Germany’s Leopard 2 and France’s Leclerc main battle tanks (MBTs) by 2040.

However, rather than simply producing a successor MBT, the MGCS programme is expected to deliver a multi-platform ground combat system solution, incorporating both manned and unmanned vehicles, that replaces the capabilities offered by the traditional MBT.