Rheinmetall, Leonardo form joint venture for Italian army needs

Leonardo's recent partnership comes shortly after the company terminated its collaboration with Franco-German KNDS to jointly develop the Leopard 2A8 MBT. This decision followed disagreements over achieving a mutually agreeable configuration for the tank.

Germany’s Rheinmetall and Italian manufacturer Leonardo signed a land systems Memorandum of Understanding today to establish a 50/50 joint venture (JV) in support of developing new Italian Army Main Battle Tanks and Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV), Caliber.Az reports citing the foreign media.

Rheinmetall announced that the objective of the agreement is to develop and subsequently commercialize a new Main Battle Tank (MBT) and the Lynx Platform for the Armoured Infantry Combat System (AICS) for service. Pending approval from regulatory bodies such as the European Commission and national competition authorities, the future joint venture will be based in Italy. It will act as the lead system integrator, prime contractor, and system integrator for Italian projects, as well as define the roadmap for involvement in the future European Main Ground Combat System (MGCS). Leonardo will handle the development and production of mission systems, electronics suites, and weapons integration for the Italian projects, in accordance with Italian customer requirements.

Rheinmetall also noted that the related technologies will form the basis for the development of future European MBTs and new versions intended for international export. Rheinmetall emphasized their capability with the newly developed Panther main battle tank and Lynx infantry fighting vehicle, which provide the foundational technology for both programs. Leonardo's partnership with Rheinmetall comes shortly after ending cooperation with Franco-German KNDS to jointly develop the Leopard 2A8 MBT due to disagreement over configuration.

German publication Handelsblatt reported Italy's plan to approve a 20 billion euros ($21.6 billion) order for 350 Lynx and 200 Panther vehicles, potentially impacting the previously planned purchase of 132 Leopard 2A8IT MBTs as outlined in Italian parliamentary documents. The MBT program includes funding for an additional 140 support vehicles, estimated at €8.2 billion ($8.8 billion) through 2037 in a two-phase program. As of the publication, the Italian Ministry of Defence had not provided a comment.