French Ministry of Defense notifies renewal of support for Leclerc MBT.

On March 31, 2021, Florence Parly, Minister of the French armed forces, welcomed the notification of a new 10-year service support market (mss2) for the Leclerc MBT. This notification has been sent to the company Nexter through the Structure Intégrée du Maintien en Condition Opérationnelle des Matériels Terrestres (SIMMT), or Integrated Structure of Maintenance in Operational Condition of the ground equipment. This market is worth an amount of more than 1 billion euros.
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Leclerc MBTs of the 5th Régiment de Dragons (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The MSS2, which entered into force on March 31, 2021, follows the end of the first verticalized market * for Maintenance in Operational Condition - Terrestrial (MCO-T) passed in 2010 with the same industrial project manager for the support of the Leclerc tanks and their recovery variant.

Deployed since 2017, in the Baltic States for the NATO mission Lynx as well as in the United Arab Emirates, Leclerc tanks have continuously benefited from supply flows at title of the in-service support contract. The terms of the new contract support therefore take into account these years of experience feedback reinforcing in particular the commitments of the industrial supply.

Maintenance operations will be carried out in conjunction with the State project management, in particular for the repair of spare parts made within the Industrial Ground Maintenance Department (Service de la maintenance industrielle Terrestre (SMITer). This includes management, delivery of spare parts, Documentation, technical control and technical assistance of Regiments, as well as the possible recourse to Maintenance services and full support for Leclerc tanks Canjuers (Var) and Mourmelon (Marne) training parks.

The market thus includes a "technical mastery" component, managed by the General Directorate of Armaments (DGA) in order to adapt the support coverage. It is supported by a renovation operation at mid-life allowing both to consolidate the industrial tool, to deal with heavy obsolescence and integrate the Leclerc tank into the SCORPION valued info bubble.

As part of the SCORPION program, the renovation works will strengthen the firepower and mobility of the Leclerc tank within combined arms battle groups. This new tank will also be equipped with specific armor kits allowing it to do better in the face of threats. 200 copies are planned to be renovated, of which 122 by 2025.

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* In a verticalized market, the management of the supply chain, stocks and responsibility for supporting training fleets are delegated to the manufacturer.