Italy itching to drop $24 billion on Lynx, Panther tanks, with amore

NETTUNO, Italy — Italy’s defense chief has challenged Leonardo and Rheinmetall to deliver a massive, €23 billion ($24 billion) order of tanks and fighting vehicles as quickly as possible to get Italy ready for an increasingly dangerous world.

Gen. Luciano Portolano said time was of the essence in a speech to the heads of the Italian and German firms on Monday as they gathered to watch a Lynx fighting vehicle fire off rounds at Nettuno test range in Italy.

“We cannot protect you if you cannot support us,” said Portolano.

Leonardo and Rheinmetall announced a joint venture last October to build 1,050 variants of the German company’s Lynx vehicle as well as 272 variants of Rheinmetall’s Panther tanks to renew the Italian army’s near-obsolete tracked vehicle component.

At a briefing before the demonstration, officials from the firms said that once production was up and running there would be the capacity to build 700 vehicles for export.

In his speech, Portolano said, “We will help you export, but you have to help us get our national requirement.”

Officials from the new JV, named Leonardo Rheinmetall Military Vehicles, gave the first breakdown of their souped-up schedule, starting with the delivery this year of five Lynx’s which are already being assembled by Rheinmetall to supply the Italian program, which has been variously dubbed AICS and A2CS.

The vehicles will match the variants now being built for Rheinmetall’s other Lynx customer, Hungary, which also lent Italy the model used in the live firing at Nettuno.

Between 2026 and 2027, a further 11 to 16 Lynx’s will be delivered with the Leonardo Hitfist 30 turret that Italy wants on its vehicles, complete with Leonardo’s new 30mm X-Gun, representing the template for the Italianized version of the vehicle.

A slide shown at the briefing showed the first Panther tanks would start arriving in 2027, with the total order including 132 main battle tanks and 140 variants split between a bridge building, armored recovery and armored engineering versions.

As the joint venture awaits anti-trust approval, Leonardo and Rheinmetall will set up a temporary company in the next few days to accept a Request for Proposal from Italy which is the next step to formal contracts, the development of the variants and a ramp up in production using an assembly line in La Spezia, Italy.

The peak year for production, according to a slide, will be 2031 with 171 vehicles and tanks produced.

The Lynx will be produced in five variants which will in turn carry out 16 roles between them. The variants are: 120mm, 30mm, Mortar, Air Defense and Non-Turreted.

David Hoeder, Rheinmetall’s designated executive chairman for the joint venture, said he believed the 120mm “light tank” version would become a successful export.

Speaking to Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger and Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani, Gen. Portolano said of the Lynx, “I fell in love with this vehicle,” adding that “it meets all the requirements of the modern battlefield.”

He added he was particularly impressed at how the eight soldiers riding inside the vehicle would emerge “ready to fight” after hours of traveling.

Apart from the turret and 30mm gun, Leonardo will also supply the Lynx’s C4I system and electro-optic sensor and radar as well as radio.

On the 132 main battle tanks, Rheinmetall will produce 52 120mm guns while Leonardo will produce 80. Each firm will handle 50 percent of the work on the hulls, while Leonardo supplies the engine and a kit to adopt its Vulcano guided munition system.

“Using a 130mm cannon has not been excluded,” said Leonardo co-director general, Lorenzo Mariani.

Laurent Sissmann, the Leonardo official designed as CEO of the joint venture, said meeting the deadlines would be “hard work” but possible.

He told Defense News, “The prerequisites to achieve it are a clear requirement, good industry teaming and stable funding.”

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

意大利内图诺——意大利国防部长已向莱昂纳多和莱茵金属公司发出挑战，要求他们尽快交付价值 230 亿欧元（240 亿美元）的坦克和战车订单，以使意大利为日益危险的世界做好准备。

周一，意大利和德国公司负责人齐聚意大利内图诺试验场，观看“山猫”战车开火射击。卢西亚诺·波托拉诺将军在向他们发表讲话时表示，时间至关重要。

“如果你们不支持我们，我们就无法保护你们，”波托拉诺说。

莱昂纳多和莱茵金属公司去年十月宣布成立合资企业，生产1050辆德国莱昂纳多公司的“山猫”车辆以及272辆莱茵金属公司的“黑豹”坦克，以更新意大利军队近乎过时的履带车辆部分。

在演示前的简报会上，各公司官员表示，一旦生产投入运营，将有能力生产 700 辆汽车用于出口。

波托拉诺在讲话中说：“我们会帮助你们出口，但你们必须帮助我们满足国内需求。”

这家名为莱昂纳多·莱茵金属军用车辆的新合资企业的官员首次公布了他们升级后的计划，首先是今年交付五辆“山猫”装甲车，这些装甲车目前已由莱茵金属公司组装，以供应意大利项目，该项目曾被冠以AICS和A2CS等不同名称。

这些车辆将与莱茵金属公司目前正在为另一家 Lynx 客户匈牙利制造的型号相匹配，匈牙利还向意大利提供了在内图诺实弹射击中使用的型号。

2026 年至 2027 年间，还将交付 11 至 16 辆 Lynx 装甲车，这些车辆将配备意大利希望在其车辆上使用的 Leonardo Hitfist 30 炮塔，以及 Leonardo 的新型 30 毫米 X-Gun 火炮，这代表了意大利化版本车辆的模板。

简报会上展示的一张幻灯片显示，首批“黑豹”坦克将于 2027 年开始交付，总订单包括 132 辆主战坦克和 140 辆衍生型号，分为桥梁建造型、装甲抢修型和装甲工程型。

在合资企业等待反垄断批准期间，莱昂纳多和莱茵金属将在未来几天内成立一家临时公司，接受来自意大利的提案请求，这是正式合同、产品变体开发以及在意大利拉斯佩齐亚使用装配线提高产量的下一步。

根据幻灯片显示，生产高峰年将是 2031 年，届时将生产 171 辆车辆和坦克。

“山猫”自行火炮将生产五种型号，共计执行16种任务。这五种型号分别是：120毫米炮型、30毫米炮型、迫击炮型、防空型和无炮塔型。

莱茵金属公司指定的合资企业执行主席大卫·霍德尔表示，他相信120毫米“轻型坦克”版本将会成功出口。

在与莱茵金属公司首席执行官阿明·帕佩格尔和莱昂纳多公司首席执行官罗伯托·辛戈拉尼交谈时，波托拉诺将军谈到“山猫”装甲车时说：“我爱上了这款车，”并补充说，“它满足了现代战场的所有要求。”

他还补充说，令他印象尤为深刻的是，车内八名士兵在经过数小时的旅程后，下车时都“做好了战斗准备”。

除了炮塔和 30 毫米炮之外，莱昂纳多公司还将提供“山猫”无人机的 C4I 系统、光电传感器、雷达以及无线电设备。

在132辆主战坦克中，莱茵金属公司将生产52门120毫米火炮，而莱昂纳多公司将生产80门。两家公司将分别负责车体50%的工作，而莱昂纳多公司将提供发动机和一套用于安装其“火神”制导武器系统的套件。

“使用130毫米火炮的可能性并未排除，”莱昂纳多公司联合总经理洛伦佐·马里亚尼表示。

被指定为合资公司首席执行官的莱昂纳多公司官员洛朗·西斯曼表示，按时完成任务将是一项“艰巨的任务”，但并非不可能。

他告诉《防务新闻》：“实现这一目标的前提条件是明确的要求、良好的行业合作和稳定的资金。”

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。