Florence Parly, French Minister of Defense, welcomes the notification by the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA), on June 1, 2021, of the renovation by the company Nexter Systems of the first 50 Leclerc main battle tanks for the benefit of the Ground Force (Armée de Terre).
The mid-life upgrade of the Leclerc, which entered service in 1993, is one of the seven operations constituting the SCORPION program, the objective of which is to renew and modernize the contact combat capabilities of the Army. The design for the renovation of the Leclerc tanks was notified by the DGA to the company Nexter Systems in March 2015.
The Military Programming Law (LPM) 2019-2025 provides for a target of 200 Leclerc tanks renovated in 2028; deliveries of the first 50 will take place between 2022 and 2024. The refurbished Leclerc tank will remain in service until the arrival of the future Franco-German Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) by 2040.
Goals of the Military Programming Law (LPM) 2019-2025:
- integrate the Leclerc tank into the SCORPION Combined Arms Tactical Group (GTIA) by providing it with warning and information resources common to SCORPION vehicles (Information and Command System [SICS], radio Contact);
- adapt to new threats (improved protection against Improvised Explosive Devices [IED] and rockets, jammer against remote-controlled IEDs, remotely operated weapon turret);
- deal with the identified obsolescence of some of its original equipment, in particular the fire control computers, in order to be able to fire future ammunition.