{"id":66952,"date":"2024-02-19T13:54:22","date_gmt":"2024-02-19T13:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2024\/02\/19\/leonardo-eyes-an-italian-gun-for-romes-new-leopard-2-tanks\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:04:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:04:56","slug":"leonardo-eyes-an-italian-gun-for-romes-new-leopard-2-tanks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2024\/02\/19\/leonardo-eyes-an-italian-gun-for-romes-new-leopard-2-tanks\/","title":{"rendered":"Leonardo eyes an Italian gun for Rome\u2019s new Leopard 2 tanks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ROME \u2014 Italy will add its own, domestically manufactured components to German Leopard tanks it is buying, possibly including the gun barrel, a senior official at Italian firm Leonardo has told Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Italy has signed to buy the tanks to fill a capability gap as the Ukraine conflict raises the profile of land war, and aims to assemble the Leopards at a Leonardo assembly line in La Spezia, Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUnder a Letter of Intent signed in December with KNDS there will be a significant \u2018Italianisation\u2019 of the Leopard 2 tank to meet Italy\u2019s requirements and provide an industrial and management role for Italy,\u201d said Leonardo\u2019s co-director general, Lorenzo Mariani.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That means a Leonardo-supplied electro-optical sensor, software-defined radio, the command-and-control system and possibly the gun barrel are under evaluation, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Letter of Intent is part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2023\/12\/13\/leonardo-knds-forge-european-industry-alliance-for-next-gen-tanks\/\">alliance announced in December<\/a> between Leonardo and KNDS which will oversee Italy\u2019s Leopard order of just over 130 combat version Leopard 2 A8 tanks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">KNDS is a consortium of Germany\u2019s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and France\u2019s Nexter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mariani said he also expected Italy\u2019s Iveco and Germany\u2019s Rheinmetall to be somehow involved in the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The deal with KNDS also discusses Italian entry into the European Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) \u2013 a future tank plotted by France and Germany \u2013 as well as a \u20ac5 billion ($5.4 billion) Italian program, formerly known as AICS, and now redubbed A2CS, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2024\/01\/25\/italy-tees-up-5-billion-plus-program-to-build-1000-combat-vehicles\/\">to build up to 1,000 infantry fighting vehicles<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Italian army has drawn up its requirements list, and Mariani said he expected Italy\u2019s procurement office to request an offer for a feasibility study very soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe think it would be correct to give the request to CIO,\u201d he said, referring to Leonardo\u2019s land vehicles consortium with Italian firm Iveco, which is a major supplier of Italian military vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCIO would then involve KNDS and probably other producers who have platforms now on the market. Having in mind as a priority a \u2018from scratch\u2019 solution, the urgency expressed by the Army merits considering modification and update of products already available on the market like the KNDS tracked Boxer or the Rheinmetall Lynx or the CV90,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will evaluate both the hypothesis of a new product or something which takes an existing platform as a base. But in any case it has to guarantee significant national content, in the context of European cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mariani added, \u201cWe hope to get the request by the end of February and would have a proposal ready within 2-3 months.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mariani told Defense News a second letter of intent contained in the agreement with KNDS envisaged the joint evaluation with KNDS to set up of a \u201cstructural alliance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn our intent it could be based on Europe\u2019s only real joint venture, MBDA, in which stakeholders have placed their missile assets but have the ability to manage their \u2018national eyes-only\u2019 assets independently, when needed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prior to being appointed co-director at Leonardo last year, reporting to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2024\/02\/15\/eu-regulators-must-let-defense-firms-merge-freely-leonardo-boss-urges\/\">CEO Roberto Cingolani<\/a>, Mariani was head of MBDA\u2019s Italy operation from 2020 to 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MBDA has been held up as perhaps the best functioning European joint venture to date, and Mariani listed three factors which have made it a success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe first is that there were already programs shared by partners before it was set up, like Aster and Storm Shadow. The second is the firms involved really wanted the venture. You need political will but the industrial desire was key. Without that you cannot do it. And thirdly, the venture created a dominant champion, and success breeds success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mariani added: \u201cThe MBDA model is applicable to tanks and in principle also to satellites and space services. In the space sector we have three nations, Italy, France, Germany and three big players &#8211; Thales, Airbus and Leonardo. There are already joint programs and one major client: the European Space Agency.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An agreement with manufacturer KNDS envisions significant &#8220;Italianisation&#8221; of the latest-generation main battle tank, according to a Leonardo 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