France to order additional Jaguar and Griffon armored vehicles

France will order an additional 130 wheeled armored vehicles to replace the armored vehicles transferred to Ukraine, French media reports.

The French Ministry of Armed Forces plans to order 38 Jaguars and 92 Griffons.

This armored vehicle is to be replaced by the French wheeled armored vehicles AMX-10RC and VAB armored personnel carriers (APCs), which France supplies to Ukraine.

This equipment is provided to the armed military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, that oppose the Russian full-scale invasion.

The National Assembly of the French should consider amendments to the draft law on military programs for 2024-2030 years. The text of the document refers to the government’s plans to form a fleet of 238 Jaguar armored vehicles by 2030. The first version of the text referred to 200 pieces of equipment.

In the year 2030, France also plans to have 1,437 Griffon armored vehicles in the army, previously this number was 1,345 units.

At the end of 2023, the French army plans to have 60 Jaguars and 575 Griffons, ordered earlier.

EBRC Jaguar

Jaguar EBRC (Engin Blindé de Reconnaissance et de Combat) is a 6×6 combat reconnaissance vehicle created by Nexter, Renault Trucks Defense and Thales under the EBMR Scorpion program (Engin Blindé Mulpion). These combat vehicles will replace the AMX-10RC, ERC-90 Sagaie and VAB Hot armored vehicles in the French Army.

Jaguar is equipped with a 40 CTAS two-seat turret, which is armed with a single CTC 40mm gun having a maximum range of 1,500 m. It can fire rounds of different types, such as training, armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot, general purpose high-explosive rounds and high-explosive fragmentation. The rate of fire of the gun is 200 rounds per minute, the gun elevation is up to 45 degrees. The vehicle is built with STANAG 4569 Level 4 armor protection, which provides protection against 14.5×114mm armour-piercing rounds, 155mm artillery shell splinters, and 10 kg mine blasts.

The French Armed Forces received the first batch of 20 Jaguar combat reconnaissance vehicles in January 2022.

Griffon armoured personnel carrier

Griffon VBMR is an armored vehicle with a 6×6 wheel arrangement, which is available in five versions. Its armament consists of a remotely controlled combat module with a 12.7 or 7.62mm machine gun (or 40mm automatic grenade launcher). Under the EBMR contract, the Griffon multi-purpose armoured vehicle will replace the VAB 4×4 armoured personnel carrier currently in service with the French Army. The main role of the Griffon VBMR is to provide the French Army with a new armoured vehicle for transportation of troops with a high level of protection and mobility.