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 4x4 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.
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. The group continues to apply its international development policy with several order intakes in 2020 intended for the export market. 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.
The group’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. KNDS’s 2020 turnover amounted to €2,4 billion.
TEXELIS designs and manufactures high-performance mobility bridges and assemblies for heavy-duty vehicles. TEXELIS teams work with operators and manufacturers of military vehicles, metros, tramways and tram-trains, and other specialized vehicles to define, produce, maintain and renovate their mobility equipment, all over the world.
For more than 70 years, TEXELIS has mastered the expectations of major prime contractors in terms of quality, safety, reliability and competitiveness.
In 2018, the DGA awarded the contract for the development and production of VBMR Light to GME Nexter-Texelis. The VBMR Light contract is part of the overall framework of the SCORPION program. Texelis is developing the entire mobility system. These components will then be assembled with the systems produced by Nexter. This meets the need for equipment that is capable of protection, agile and has good strategic and tactical mobility. This considers the particularly demanding environment in which the Army's equipment is currently operating.
Texelis supports both manufacturers and operators throughout the product life cycle, from initial design to renewal. Texelis is constantly striving to ensure that its products are technically advanced, robust and adaptable in order to meet the needs and requirements of end users.
Texelis is expanding its offering to include chassis and mobility kits for monocoque vehicles, demonstrating its expertise and technology, and positioning itself as the mobility partner for armored vehicles, today and tomorrow.
