France has procured 530 Serval 4×4 Lightweight Multirole Armored Vehicles as part of the army’s Synergy of Contact Reinforced by Versatility and Infovalorisation (SCORPION) program.
The deal, announced by French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu, will deliver the systems between 2025 and 2031.
The contract also covers the supply of 97 additional vehicles to be procured depending on the army’s requirements.
The transaction can reach more than 1 billion euros ($1.03 billion) if all options are exercised.
A consortium including industry partners across Roanne, Bourges, Limoges, Satory, Plessis-Robinson, and Toulon will lead work for the project.
SCORPION is Paris’ initiative to modernize its medium-sized ground fleet to complement the army’s combined arms tactical groups and support the operability of the service’s Leclerc main battle tanks.
The Serval System
The Serval was first introduced in 2018 to replace the French military’s Armored Forward Vehicle or VAB systems, operational since the early 1980s.
The new capability weighs 17 tonnes (37,479 pounds) and measures 7 meters (23 feet) long.
It can carry up to eight passengers and is protected by a NATO Level 4 standard armor sheet to protect its crew from kinetic strikes, artillery, and explosives.
The platform’s main weapon includes either the Hornet remote weapon station with up to a 12.7-millimeter machine gun or Akeron missiles and an ARX remote weapon station with a heavy mortar.
Additional armaments include a GALIX self-protection system with smoke grenades and the Hornet Lite weapon station with a 7.62-millimeter machine gun.
The Serval is powered by a Cummins diesel engine with 375 horsepower and an Allison 3000 automatic transmission for a range of 600 kilometers (373 miles) and a top speed of 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour.
