Leonardo, KNDS forge European industry alliance for next-gen tanks

ROME — Italy’s Leonardo and the Franco-German consortium KNDS are forming a “strategic alliance” to build tanks and possibly more, the companies said Wednesday.

The new alliance will focus on kick-starting Italy’s involvement in the long-heralded and much-delayed European battle tank program known as the Main Ground Combat System , as well as coordinating work on new Leopard tanks Italy is ordering.

But in their statement announcing the deal, the firms said they want to go further. “The aim is to create a truly European Defense Group and, in addition, to cooperate more closely in the field of land based electronics.”

The statement echoed the support given by Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani in October for “giant” joint ventures in Europe to “compete on level terms with U.S. and China colossuses.”

KNDS is a consortium of Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and France’s Nexter.

In the near term, the deal will open the door for Italy to enter the Main Ground Combat System program, which it has been keen to join, even though the project has been hampered by differences between France and Germany over its direction.

The accord will also oversee Italian workshare on the German Leopard 2 A8 tanks Italy is buying to replenish its depleted stock of tanks, as the Ukraine war highlights the need for land warfare capabilities.

“The companies will collaborate in the development, manufacturing and maintenance of the Leopard 2 A8 solution for the Italian Army, as well as the support platforms,” the statement said. “The alliance between Leonardo and KNDS aims to create further production and development capabilities in Italy and to use these for future European and export projects.”

That supported a report in Germany’s Spiegel publication that Italy will get a Leopard production line.

Italy intends to buy about 133 Leopards, and this year’s budget document stated the country will spend €100 million (U.S. $108 million) in 2024, with a total of €4 billion (U.S. $4.3 billion) spent on the tanks by 2037.

Another possible venture for the alliance could be to build a new, much-needed armored fighting vehicle for the Italian Army to replace its ageing Dardo vehicles.

This year’s Italian budget document forecasts a €15 billion program that would be run in a “multi-national context, based on alliances with solid European firms that already work with Italian companies.”

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——意大利莱昂纳多公司和法德财团KNDS周三表示，两家公司正在组建“战略联盟”，共同制造坦克，甚至可能制造更多产品。

新联盟将致力于启动意大利参与备受瞩目但进展缓慢的欧洲主战坦克项目——主战地面作战系统，并协调意大利订购的新型豹式坦克的相关工作。

但在宣布这项交易的声明中，两家公司表示他们希望更进一步。“我们的目标是创建一个真正的欧洲防务集团，此外，还要在陆基电子设备领域开展更紧密的合作。”

该声明呼应了莱昂纳多首席执行官罗伯托·辛戈拉尼在 10 月份表达的支持，即支持在欧洲成立“巨型”合资企业，以便“与美国和中国的巨头企业公平竞争”。

KNDS是由德国克劳斯-玛菲·韦格曼公司和法国奈克斯特公司组成的财团。

短期来看，这项协议将为意大利进入主战地面作战系统项目打开大门，意大利一直渴望加入该项目，尽管该项目因法国和德国在发展方向上的分歧而受阻。

该协议还将监督意大利在德国购买豹2A8坦克项目上的工作分担情况。意大利正在购买这些坦克以补充其日益减少的坦克库存，因为乌克兰战争凸显了陆地作战能力的必要性。

声明称：“两家公司将合作开发、制造和维护意大利陆军的豹2 A8坦克及其配套平台。莱昂纳多和KNDS的联盟旨在进一步提升意大利的生产和研发能力，并将其应用于未来的欧洲项目和出口项目。”

这印证了德国《明镜周刊》的一篇报道，该报道称意大利将获得一条豹式坦克生产线。

意大利计划购买约 133 辆豹式坦克，今年的预算文件显示，该国将在 2024 年花费 1 亿欧元（1.08 亿美元），到 2037 年，在坦克上的总支出将达到 40 亿欧元（43 亿美元）。

该联盟的另一个可能项目是为意大利陆军建造一种急需的新型装甲战车，以取代其老旧的达尔多战车。

今年的意大利预算文件预测，一项 150 亿欧元的计划将在“多国背景下实施，基于与已经与意大利公司合作的实力雄厚的欧洲公司的联盟”。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。