Italy picks Rheinmetall and Leonardo for MBT and IFV and gives MGCS a boost

Italy’s Leonardo and Germany’s Rheinmetall have signed an agreement to form a 50:50 joint venture (JV) to develop a new Main Battle Tank (MBT) to replace Ariete and Armoured Infantry Combat System (AICS) for the Italian Army.

In a statement, the two companies said the objective of the agreement was the industrial development and subsequent commercialisation of the new MBT and the new Lynx platform for the AICS.

The JV will be the Lead System Integrator, prime contractor and system integrator in both of the Italian programmes and will define the roadmap for the participation in the future European MGCS, a Franco-German programme to develop a new MBT which continues to encounter hurdles.

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Under the plan mission systems, electronics suites and weapons integration will be developed and produced by Leonardo for that country’s MBT and AICS programmes according to the requirements of the Italian client.

The technologies will also be the basis for the development of MGCS and the new versions intended for international export. The JV will lean heavily on Rheinmetall’s experience in developing the new Panther MBT and the new Lynx IFV and manufacturing capability.

The collapse of negotiations with KNDS which started in December 2023 suggested a move away from Leopards which are manufactured by Krauss Maffei Wegmann, part of KNDS.

Just last month Leonardo announced the end of talks noting “the interruption of the negotiations with KNDS to define a common configuration for the MBT programme of the Italian Army and to develop a broader cooperation”.

At the time Leonardo also announced that “Leonardo [remains] well positioned for future developments toward MGCS”, a potential foreshadowing of the MoU with Rheinmetall.

If the MoU clears regulatory hurdles, it would be a huge boost for Rheinmetall’s vehicle systems business which saw a 7% bump in sales the first quarter of this year compared to last.

Additionally, in the past two months the company received billions-of-dollars in orders for trucks from Germany and Canada. Just days ago it signed a framework agreement with Germany for trucks which could be worth up to US$3.8 billion.

Shephard Defence Insight noted that the deal itself came as little surprise, but the increase in scale, and speed at which, the Italian government appears to have moved away towards Rheinmetall was telling.

Given the breakdown in negotiations between KNDS and the Italian contingent last month, Eurosatory 2024 presented the Rheinmetall ‘double ticket’ as the likely successor, given the circling of Italian delegations at the Rheinmetall chalet.

For an Italian government and army already seeking a fast solution for its heavy armour capability gap, the appeal of working with one company or JV has undoubtedly proven indispensable, allowing commonality of parts, training, design and, crucially, manufacturing.

The only question potentially remaining is which Panther variant Italy intends to purchase. Rome now has the option to choose between the original 130mm KF-51, an unmanned turreted version in the KF-51U revealed last month or the Hungarian-funded-developing Panther EVO, a lighter, likely cheaper, version featuring a 120mm cannon similar to the Leopard 2A8 considered initially.

Related Programmes in Defence Insight

MGCS [Italy]

C1 Ariete Replacement [Italy]

AICS [Italy]

Related Equipment in Defence Insight

Panther EVO

KF51 Panther

KF41 Lynx