Nexter and Texelis deliver the first SERVALs to the French ministry of the Armed Forces
05/05/2022 – In
accordance with the contract notified in 2018, the temporary business venture
comprising Nexter and Texelis has delivered the first SERVALs light multi-role
armored vehicles (VBMR) to the French ministry of the Armed Forces. 70 vehicles
will be delivered by the end of 2022, out of a total of 364 SERVALs ordered to
date by the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA).
Developed in record time, the SERVAL 4×4 armored
vehicle is one of the four vehicles in the SCORPION program, designed to renew
the French Army’s medium weight armored vehicles. The SERVAL is going to equip
the French national emergency echelon as it is made to intervene in contact
zones in the initial phases of an operation. It will also be used light
infantry units such as mountain troops and parachute regiments. Its weight and
size enable it to be easily deployed in external theaters of operations, since
an A400M transport aircraft can carry two SERVALs in combat order. The SERVAL
is an essential complement to the GRIFFON armored personnel carrier and the
JAGUAR armored reconnaissance and combat vehicle.
The SERVAL integrates the common equipment to
SCORPION vehicles, in particular the vehicle’s vetronics, a remotely operated
turret, threat detectors, as well as the combat information system (SICS). With
the SICS, the SERVAL is integrated into the SCORPION collaborative combat
system, taking advantage of all the information enhanced by the digitization of
the battle space. Based on the common base developed by Nexter and Texelis, the
SERVAL is available in three main versions (patrol, intelligence and
reconnaissance, and communications relay), which are themselves available in a
large number of variants. The SERVAL’s highly modular architecture enables it
to evolve according to its customers’ needs, offering them different
capabilities from a single vehicle, which ensures optimal vehicle availability
and maintenance costs for its users.
Photo courtesy DGA
