On December 6, 2021, the GME (Groupement Momentané d'Entreprises) EBMR (engin blindé multi rôles) delivered to the French Army the 119th and last GRIFFON planned for 2021. The 119 GRIFFONs were first submitted to the verification operations of the French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA/SQ) at the Nexter site in Roanne (France) before being sent to the regiments. Thus, the GME team, composed of Nexter, Arquus and Thales, is meeting its delivery target for the year 2021, in accordance with the initial order of April 2017 and the 2019-2025 military programming law.

For the record, 128 GRIFFONs had been submitted for verification in 2020, and 92 in 2019, making a total of 339 GRIFFONs since the notification of the TC2 conditional tranche of the EBMR contract. In addition, all variants of the troop transport version are now qualified, namely the FELIN, sniper section (STE), 81mm mortar (MO81), refueling (RAV), light intervention element (ELI), engineer (GEN), medium range missile (MMP) variants, in addition to the command post vehicle (EPC) version.

Nexter, Arquus and Thales wish to highlight the quality of the industrial cooperation between all the sites involved in the program and warmly thank their teams for the work carried out in 2021. Once again, they have shown total commitment to the execution of their mission in the service of the Army.

The delivery of GRIFFON vehicles will continue at the same pace in 2022.

The GRIFFON - a 24.5t armored multi-role vehicle - is a multipurpose support and transport vehicle and one of the components of the SCORPION program, conducted under the supervision of the DGA.

Replacing the VAB, the GRIFFON is available in several versions (troop transport, command post, health, artillery observation vehicle, MEPAC, etc.). The TT version was the first to be qualified by the DGA in June 2019. Since then, all variants of the GRIFFON VTT have been qualified. The PC version of the GRIFFON was qualified in 2020, in particular to allow the deployment in 2021 of a GTIA GRIFFON in external operations. The health (SAN) and artillery observation (VOA) versions are to be qualified in 2022.

Nexter, the leading French land defense company and third European player in the ammunition sector is part of the KNDS Group. The scope of its business includes as well the supply of weapon systems and ammunition for air and naval forces. Nexter also provides systems and protection solutions in the field of homeland security. In France, Nexter is fully committed to meeting the objectives of the SCORPION program, through the upgrade of the Leclerc tank and the development of the VBMR GRIFFON and EBRC JAGUAR vehicles within the temporary business venture between Nexter, Thales and Arquus, as well as the Lightweight VBMR SERVAL.

Nexter’s range of products also includes TITUS® and VBCI armored vehicles, CAESAR® and 105LG1 artillery systems, smart ammunition (BONUS), robots, many equipment, as well as customer service, support and revaluation.

ARQUUS is a French Defense company, leader of land mobility solutions. Historical partner of the armies, Arquus has more than 25,000 vehicles currently in service in the French Army. Arquus takes part in the VBMR GRIFFON and EBRC JAGUAR programs, which are the new generation of the French Army’s combat vehicles, in the framework of a Temporary Grouping of Companies. Arquus is notably in charge of designing and delivering the drivelines and the self-defense weapon systems for these two vehicles. Arquus also takes charge of all the logistics for the spare parts and organs of the VBMR and EBRC vehicles, thanks to its new logistics facility in Garchizy.

Thales is a global high technology leader investing in digital and “deep tech” innovations - connectivity, big data, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and quantum technology. The Group provides solutions, services and products that help its customers - businesses, organizations and states - in the defense, aeronautics, space, transportation and digital identity and security markets to fulfil their critical missions, by placing humans at the heart of the decision-making process.