Leonardo And Knds they will not produce new ones together Leopard for the Italian army. Both armaments companies announced this in a note, putting an end to a negotiation that should have led to collaboration for one important supply to Italy, but also in the future to the construction of new vehicles for the European armies. The order is around 8 billion euros and Leonardo is now looking for a new partner to win it.
L’European Union is pushing for companies on the continent to collaborate on the creation of new standard vehicles EU armies. These are the new tanks that will surpass the Leopards and the armored infantry vehicles. The plan is to push in a non-forced way towards an integration of the resources used by the armed forces in order to guarantee easier collaboration in case a military intervention by the Union is necessary in the future.
Leonardo breaks with Knds: company press releases
Leonardo, the state-controlled company that deals with armaments and defense systems has interrupted negotiations for a collaboration with the German Knds for the construction of new tanks Leopard 2 A8. The Italian company had proposed that part of the turret and other fundamental systems of the vehicle be built in Italy or by a German subsidiary of the Italian group, Hensoldt. Knds responded by instead proposing a much more marginal role for Leonardo and the negotiation did not reach a conclusion.
The collaboration was designed above all to win a contract 8 billion euros from the Italian army. The armed forces of our country must in fact replace the now obsolete Ariete tanks and, also with a view to greater collaboration with other European countries, the Leopards, among the most widespread vehicles of this type in Europe, are considered an attractive choice. Without the alliance between Leonardo and Knds this choice now appears much less obvious.
It was KNDS itself that first communicated the breakdown of the negotiation: “With 18 European user countries, the Leopard 2 is the standard tank of our continent and of NATO. It is more important than ever to safeguard this standard, which makes a significant contribution to the interoperability and joint combat power of European and NATO armies. The parties were unable to reach an agreement on the configuration and consequently the negotiations on Leonardo’s strategic participation in KNDS also failed. Yet Knds continues to be committed to supporting the Italian Army” declared the German company.
A few hours later, Leonardo’s press release arrived: “In reference to the press release of 13 December 2023, Leonardo communicates that the negotiations with Knds to define a common configuration for the program Main battle tank of the Italian Army and to develop broader industrial collaboration were discontinued. Leonardo confirms its commitment to providing the Italian Army with a high-performance, interoperable and updated solution, which meets current needs and remains well positioned for future developments towards the Main Ground Combat System, also through cooperation with other qualified international partners”. The company lost more than 4 percentage points on the stock market after the announcement.
The search for a new partner, still in Germany
Even if the order for the replacement of the Aries was one of the main reasons for pushing Leonardo And Knds to collaborate, the idea behind this alliance was much broader. European countries are trying to make the equipment of their armies more homogeneous and to start producing most of the weapons their armed forces need within the borders of the Old Continent.
In this context there are two important projects in which several European companies are trying to participate and for which complex alliances will be necessary:
- The Main battle tank (Mbt). This is the new heavy tank that will have to surpass the current Leopards and establish itself as a standard in all the armed forces of the European Union
- L’Armored infantry combat system (Aics). A new armored vehicle for the transport and combat of mechanized infantry which should spread across all European armies and which the Italian armed forces could request together with the order to replace the Ariete, bringing it to a total of 20 billion euros
In order not to miss these opportunities, Leonardo is apparently thinking of a collaboration with another German company, Rheinmetall. There would be two fronts: that of a heavy tank and that of an armored infantry vehicle:
- The heavy tank proposed to the Italian Army to replace the Aries in this case it would be the Panther. Presented two years ago and already updated for modern war scenarios, with additions especially regarding the use of drones.
- The Aics would instead be developed starting from Lynx, armored fighting vehicle developed in 2015 by Rheinmetall and currently in use in Hungary.
The integration plan of the European armies
The activity in the European defense sector was started by the announcement by the EU Commission of an incentive plan to encourage companies on the continent to collaborate. The EU countries, despite being part of the same military alliance, the Born, in many cases they use very different armaments. A problem emerged in the supply of weapons to Ukraine, where vehicles of all kinds have arrived, creating many problems for the engineers Kiev in maintenance and repairs.
In a common intervention scenario, this heterogeneity would be a problem. For this reason the EU wants to push European defense companies to form alliances to supply most of the armaments that the armies of member countries need. At the same time, this would lead to greater integration of the EU armed forces, which would all operate on similar means. An element that would simplify both the operations on the field than those logistics.
The MBT and AICS go in this direction, creating two standards for some of the most used vehicles of all during land operations: heavy tanks and combat vehicles for mechanized infantry. The goal would be to jointly purchase at least the 40% of European weapons by 2030 and that at least 35% of the market value of military orders is distributed within the EU within the same year.
