European partners plan competing project for Leopard 2 successor

Several European partners, including Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden, recently signed contracts for a new alliance to develop a Leopard 2 successor. The alliance aims to apply for funding worth hundreds of millions of euros from the European Defence Fund (EDF). The companies involved, KMW, Rheinmetal, Saab from Sweden and Leonardo from Italy, are working together on this new main battle tank project. This initiative could compete with the existing Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) main battle tank project, which was agreed by Germany and France in 2017. The MGCS project aims to develop a joint successor to the Leopard 2 and the French Leclerc tank, but has so far failed to get off the ground. The development of the MGCS project could come up at a planned Franco-German government retreat in early October. So far, neither the German Defense Ministry nor Rheinmetall or KMW have officially commented on these developments. The Ministry of Defense in Paris and the French President's Office have also made no official comments