IAV 2024: German concept for MGCS doubles down on multi-platform solution
A senior Bundeswehr procurement officer, speaking on 23 January 2024 at the Defence iQ International Armoured Vehicles conference in Twickenham, outlined how Germany’s vision for the future Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) project has moved from a single tank design to a multi-platform solution.
Noting a German emphasis on “mobility, mobility and mobility” as the overriding MGCS consideration, Colonel Armin Dirks, Head of Operations for the MGCS Combined Project Team within the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw), said, “From our point of view, the time for a single all-in-one platform is over.”
Citing Lieutenant General Andreas Marlow, the vice chief of the German Army, who had earlier noted that in future the tank has to provide more capabilities than it does now, Col Dirks said, “At a very early stage we learnt that if we want to integrate all these future capabilities on a single platform like before, like we have right now, we would end up [going even larger] with the respective size, and at that time the chief of the army said, ‘No way: 50 tonnes; not a single drop more.’”
Thus, said Col Dirks, “We had to leave the capability analysis focusing on a single platform behind and go to the requirement analysis of the formation, put together all the requirements the future system has to provide.”
The colonel then presented a conceptual image showing a formation of three AFVs that were each smaller than an MBT. He explained that the two leading AFVs, one of which was armed with a main gun and the other with a missile launcher, would be unmanned, while the AFV behind them would be manned and act as the control vehicle.
Regarding other design considerations, Col Dirks noted that all three vehicles would need to share the same chassis to minimise their logistics footprint, while a considerable degree of automation would both reduce crewing requirements and improve lethality.
Thus, the MGCS project under the German concept now appears to start with a 50-tonne unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), which, combined with other platforms, fulfils the complete set of capability requirements that could not otherwise be encompassed within a single MBT. The colonel additionally noted thus such a multi-platform solution offers a particular advantage, in that, if in future a new capability needs to be introduced, another vehicle can be added to the formation rather than further burdening the vehicles already in it.
The colonel additionally noted that in terms of energy management, fuel consumption and reducing the logistics footprint, the new MGCS AFVs would need to use a hybrid power unit. “We need to open that door,” he said.
Meanwhile, because the AFVs’ SDRI range would need to exceed their own firepower range, the colonel said they would require their own unmanned aerial vehicles, since their SDRI requirements could not be achieved with platform-based sensors.
Moreover, for survivability considerations and because the new AFVs might have a smaller ammunition loadout than a Leopard 2 MBT, Col Dirks said the AFV with the main gun would need the technology to secure “more one-shot kills”.
https://euro-sd.com/2024/01/major-news/ ... -for-mgcs/
