Spain’s arms procurement agency has awarded Indra Sistemas a €45-million, two-year research and development contract to support the conceptual and technological groundwork for a future main battle tank intended to replace the Leopard 2E beyond 2040. The program forms part of the Spanish Army’s special modernization initiative focused on sustaining armored combat relevance in increasingly complex and contested environments. The effort centers on developing critical next-generation capabilities, including advanced electronic architectures, integrated multi-sensor systems, modern command-and-control networks, active protection technologies, enhanced mobility solutions, and superior situational awareness. The platform is expected to deliver greater effective firepower without increasing gun barrel length or compromising maneuverability. A key feature under consideration is the ability to integrate and command unmanned ground vehicles and unmanned aerial systems, either individually or as coordinated swarms, offering decisive battlefield advantages through networked operations. Beyond Spain’s domestic needs, the project is positioned as a potential successor to France’s Leclerc tank, signaling possible export ambitions. While Spain is not currently part of the Franco-German next-generation tank initiative, officials have indicated that the two programs could converge in the future given their overlapping objectives.
