French army presented with first Griffon 6x6
The French army has been presented with its first Griffon Véhicule Blindé Multi-Rôles (VBMR) 6x6 from the consortium of manufacturers that develop the vehicle, during a ceremony held in Satory, France on 4 July.
Emmanuel Levacher, president of Arquus – one of the vehicle’s manufacturers - presented Gen Jean-Pierre Bosser, the army’s chief of staff, with the first Griffon’s licence plate during the ceremony, which was also attended by French minister of the armed forces, Florence Parly.
Griffon is being delivered under the Scorpion programme, a French government initiative to modernise the army’s fleet of vehicles, and a consortium comprised of Arquus, Nexter and Thales is developing both the Griffon and the Jaguar Engin Blindé de Reconnaissance et de Combat (EBRC) 6x6 for the programme.
The standard Griffon will be an APC able to carry 11 personnel, while other variants will include ambulance, command post and artillery observation vehicles.
The consortium had expected to build as many as 1,722 Griffons to replace the army’s wheeled VAB multirole vehicle, however, in May 2018 French DGA procurement agency officials said that under the new Military Planning Law that covers 2019 to 2025 the requirement would be raised to 1,872.
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