The DGA has ordered 530 Serval Appui SCORPION vehicles. (Sirpa Terre)
The Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA), the French defence procurement agency, announced on 10 February that it had ordered 530 Serval Appui (Support) SCORPION vehicles on 31 December 2024. The vehicles are planned to be delivered from the end of 2025 to 2031.
Ninety-seven Serval Véhicule Blindé Multi-Rôle Léger (VBMR-L) 4×4 light multirole armoured vehicles will be ordered in addition to the 530 vehicles under the same contract, which is worth over EUR1 billion (USD1.03 billion). Work will be carried out by KNDS France at its sites in Satory, Bourges, and Roanne; Texelis in Limoges; MBDA in Plessis Robinson and Bourges; and CS Group in Plessis Robinson and Toulon.
In line with France's Loi de Programmation Militaire (LPM) 2024–30 military funding programme approved on 13 July 2023, the order for 530 vehicles is part of the effort to put French Army units under armour and integrate them into the SCORPION transformation programme to command, support, and move in the zone of contact, operating at the combined arms brigade or divisional level.
Three versions of Serval will be developed and produced: défense sol-air d'accompagnement (accompanying surface-to-air defence: DSA), lutte anti-drones (counter-unmanned aerial vehicle: LAD), and nœuds de communication tactiques (tactical communication nodes: NCT).
The Serval DSA vehicle will be equipped with a turret from MBDA France allowing the employment of the Mistral missile under armour and also includea self-defence weapon in the turret. The LAD version will be equipped with a radar, a radio frequency detection system, a fire-control system, and a remote-controlled weapon station with a 30×113 mm cannon firing special ammunition. The NCT version will be equipped with the Syracuse IV satellite, a radio, and service communication systems.
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