French army shows Leclerc tank with once-mocked anti-drone cage

PARIS — The French Army showed off an upgraded Leclerc XLR main battle tank fitted with roof-mounted cage armor, a protective measure widely mocked on social media as “cope cages” when similar structures appeared on Russian tanks during the opening months of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but which has since proven useful against drones on the modern battlefield.

The French Army technical section built a prototype of the metal cage, which is now being manufactured by KNDS France and in the process of being delivered to the tank units, said Gen. Olivier Coquet, head of the section known as STAT, in a briefing with reporters at the Eurosatory defense show near Paris on Sunday.

Roof-mounted armor variants have been adopted by both Russian and Ukrainian forces as drone threats proliferate.

The Leclerc is being upgraded as part of France’s Scorpion armored-vehicle modernization program, which includes equipping the French heaviest armored unit with new computers, additional armor and a remotely operated turret to operate in urban areas, according to Coquet. The Leclerc has a 120 mm cannon and an autoloader, with a crew of three.

France’s main battle tank will be reaching the end of its service life by 2035, and the Army plans to acquire an interim capability to bridge the gap between the end of the Leclerc and the arrival of the Main Ground Combat System, Coquet said. The joint MGCS project is more likely to arrive towards 2045, according to the head of the STAT.

“We already have some ideas, we know full well that it won’t be an exact copy of the Leclerc tank. There will be drones operating alongside it, and we know there will be a robotic element,” said Gen. Philippe de Montenon, the commander of the French land forces and operations, in the same briefing.

The planned MGCS will “clearly” not be just a tank but a networked system of systems with artificial intelligence, and the interim capability will be a “first building block of the MGCS,” according to Coquet. “So that’s what we’re looking for.”

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——法国陆军展示了一款升级版的勒克莱尔XLR主战坦克，该坦克配备了车顶笼式装甲。这种防护措施在社交媒体上被广泛嘲笑为“笼式防护罩”，因为在2022年俄罗斯入侵乌克兰的最初几个月里，类似的结构也出现在俄罗斯坦克上。但事实证明，这种防护措施在现代战场上对付无人机非常有效。

法国陆军技术部门（STAT）负责人奥利维尔·科凯将军周日在巴黎附近的欧洲防务展上向记者通报说，该部门已经制造出一个金属笼的原型，目前正由法国KNDS公司生产，并正在交付给坦克部队。

随着无人机威胁的扩散，俄罗斯和乌克兰军队都采用了屋顶装甲变型车。

据科凯特称，勒克莱尔坦克正在进行升级，这是法国“蝎子”装甲车现代化计划的一部分，该计划包括为这款法国最重型的装甲车辆配备新型计算机、额外装甲以及用于城市作战的遥控炮塔。勒克莱尔坦克配备一门120毫米火炮和自动装弹机，乘员三人。

法国陆军总参谋长科凯表示，法国主战坦克将于2035年达到服役年限终点，陆军计划采购一种过渡性装备，以弥补勒克莱尔坦克退役和主战地面作战系统（MGCS）服役之间的空档期。据科凯称，联合研制的MGCS项目更有可能在2045年左右投入使用。

“我们已经有一些想法了，我们非常清楚它不会是勒克莱尔坦克的完全复制品。届时将有无人机与它协同作战，而且我们知道其中会包含机器人部分，”法国陆军司令兼作战司令菲利普·德·蒙特农将军在同一简报会上说道。

科奎特表示，计划中的MGCS“显然”不仅仅是一辆坦克，而是一个集成了人工智能的联网系统，而过渡能力将是“MGCS的第一个组成部分”。“这就是我们所追求的。”

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。