Launched in 2017 and blocked at the so-called SADS Part 1 study phase, notified three years later to a working group composed of KNDS France, KNDS Deutschland and Rheinmetall, the Main Land Combat System project [MGCS – Main Ground Combat System] is supposed to have been relaunched thanks to a memorandum of understanding signed by Sébastien Lecornu, the French Minister of the Armed Forces, and Boris Pistorius, his German counterpart, last April.
As a reminder, it was a question of adopting a new approach by putting military need before the wishes of the industrialists involved and, above all, by drawing inspiration from the model which had been put in place for the Air Combat System project of the future [SCAF]led by France, Germany and Spain.
Given that it involves developing a “family of systems” [chars de nouvelle génération, drones, robots, etc.] having to be based on a “combat cloud”, the MGCS must be reorganized according to eight distinct capability pillars [plateforme, tourelles et canons, armement secondaire, système de communication et de commandement, simulation, capteurs, protection contre les drones, logistique]. In addition, there is also talk of creating a project company bringing together KNDS France, Thales, KNDS Deutschland and Rheinmetall.
However, at the end of 2024, the MGCS was still at the same point, the formation of the project company having fallen behind schedule. What's more, the Bundestag [chambre basse du Parlement allemand] has not yet given the green light to the launch of this new phase of the project.
That being said, the memorandum of understanding signed by MM. Lecornu and Pistorius put aside disputes between the industrialists concerned relating to certain technological choices, these should only be made following comparative tests. This is particularly the case for the armament of the future battle tank.
Indeed, Rheinmetall wishes to impose its 130 mm cannon while KNDS France pushed the application of its ASCALON system [Autoloaded and SCALable Outperforming guN]which fires telescoped munitions which, stored in a self-loading turret, are “programmable beyond line of sight”. All with “minimal wear”.
During the 2024 edition of the EuroSatory air-land arms exhibition, KNDS France announced that the ASCALON system could be “equipped with different tubes from 120 to 140 mm”, with the caliber change being carried out in less than an hour. And to emphasize that “this innovative concept, while offering significant growth potential, offers levels of performance inaccessible to current technologies”.
The next test campaign will consist of firing with an ASCALON cannon integrated into a battle tank turret. It is planned to take place during this year.
Regardless, several parliamentary reports published during the examination of the initial 2025 finance bill, in October/November, highlighted the need to support the ASCALON system in the perspective of the MGCS.
But in the meantime, KNDS has launched an offensive in the media field by broadcasting, via social networks, impressive images of the latest ASCALON tests, both in 140 mm and 120 mm caliber. They thus highlighted the possibility of quickly changing gun caliber using the same breech as well as the performance of the arrow shells developed for this system. [comme le 120 APFSDS « Shard »]these having perforated two slabs of reinforced concrete separated by several meters with extreme precision.
The ASCALON has “four essential characteristics”, recently summarized François Groshanny, director of the “Future Combat Tank” program at KNDS France, to RFI.
“First, a level of power delivered to the muzzle and to the target that has never been equaled. We have the ability to change caliber in less than 30 minutes. Third characteristic, it is extremely compact, so we use a so-called super shot architecture. Last thing, we are working a lot on the integrability of this gun in a turret to have a footprint inside the turret which is minimal and therefore we will be able to accommodate more personnel in the chassis,” he explained.
