Leonardo and Rheinmetall sign tank alliance

Rheinmetall has the products that the top management of the armed forces considers suitable to replace the old Ariete tanks and Dardo light armoured vehicles, as General Luciano Portolano told Il Sole 24 Ore, when he was still Secretary General of Defence and National Armaments Director (he has been Chief of Defence Staff since 4 October). Products that Leonardo, the supplier of the Army's old vehicles, does not have, however, because its company operating in the sector, Oto Melara, has not developed new production of this type for about 30 years.

The choice fell on the Panther Kf51 heavy tank, which the Duesseldorf-based group has been developing for two years. Industrial production has not yet started. The other chosen vehicle is the Lynx, the light infantry tracked vehicle produced by Rheinmetall, whose launch customer is Hungary (and not Germany). The two vehicles will be 'Italianised', as Leonardo's co-director general Lorenzo Mariani said, there will be a substantial amount of work for the group and other Italian companies. The first Lynx vehicles should arrive in Italy from Germany by the end of this year, at least this is the hope expressed by General Portolano to assign the new vehicles to the operational departments. For the production of the heavy tanks, the Panther, it will take longer, they are expected to arrive in 2027.

In particular, through Oto Melara in La Spezia, the former Finmeccanica will build the turrets, supply the electronics and transmissions. The Germans will supply the weapon and the hull. The engine will also be German-made. The two companies said they will each have 50 per cent of the value of the orders. According to the joint MoU communiqué, the final assembly lines, vehicle homologation tests, deliveries, and logistical support will be carried out in Italy 'with an Italian share of 60 per cent'. Part of the work will also go to Rheinmetall Italia, a subsidiary of the German group led by CEO Alessandro Ercolani. Rheinmetall was assisted by the law firm Chiomenti.

At a later stage, the aim is to export the products and participate in the development of the European 'main battle tank' (Mbt or Mgcs), the heavy tank. Last April, the governments of France and Germany signed a declaration of intent for the future European tank. The two countries' industries, Nexter for France, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (Kmw) and Rheinmetall for Germany, joined the protocol. Kmw builds the Leopard, is united with Nexter by a common holding company (Knds) based in Amsterdam, but is a rival of Rheinmetall, which builds the barrel of the Leopard and the entire weapon.

In signing the agreement with Leonardo, Papperger broke away from the Franco-German project and chose an Italian alliance for the future European programme. For Cingolani, it is the first international alliance of weight in his mandate, which has now reached its halfway point.