France and Germany are gradually moving towards building a tank under the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) program. The MGSC is to develop a successor to Leopard 2 tanks and Leclerc. No one would be surprised if the United Kingdom joins the club. France, on the other hand, is extending the maintenance of its tanks for another ten years
Nexter System has received a new contract to maintain French Leclerc Main Battle Tanks (MBT).
Florence Parly, Minister of the French armed forces, welcomed the notification of a new 10-year service support market (Marché de Soutien en Service /MSS2) for the Leclerc MBT. This notification has been sent to the company Nexter through the Central Directory of Integrated Structure For Maintaining Land Equipment In Operational Condition (Directeur Central de la Structure Intégrée du Maintien en Condition Opérationnelle des Matériels Terrestres/SIMMT) or of the ground equipment. This market is worth an amount of more than 1 billion euros.
It is noted that the agreement provides for the management, supply of spare parts, documentation, technical control and technical assistance.
This contract is, in fact, a continuation of a previous € 900 million agreement signed in 2009, which was one of the first "vertical" agreements to delegate supply chain management, inventory and support responsibilities to a single service provider.
As part of the SCORPION program, the renovation works will strengthen the firepower and mobility of the Leclerc tank. This tank will also be equipped with specific armour kits allowing it to better cope with threats. Two hundred units are planned to be refurbished by 2025.
