French Army Receives First MEPAC Self-Propelled Mortar

At the end of 2024, the French General Directorate of Armaments handed over the first MEPAC self-propelled mortar based on the Griffon armored vehicle to the French Army.

This was reported by the French Ministry of Defense.

The first vehicle was handed over to the 8th Technical Support Regiment, likely to acquaint technical personnel with the new equipment and prepare them for maintaining additional vehicles.

In total, the French army is to receive 54 MEPAC self-propelled mortars by the end of 2028, 10 of which are to be delivered during 2025.

Twenty-four more machines, which were contracted in December 2023, will be manufactured for Belgium as part of the CaMo (Motorized Capacity) partnership.

MEPAC

The MEPAC weighs 24.5 tons and is based on the Griffon multipurpose vehicle as part of the Scorpion (Synergie du contact renforcée par la polyvalence et l’infovalorisation) military program.

This program is aimed at updating and modernizing the army’s combat capabilities and covers the main future platforms of the French Armed Forces: the updated Leclerc main battle tank, the 6×6 Jaguar and the 6×6 Grifon armored vehicle.

The task of the new self-propelled mortar will be to provide fire support to the General Task Force (GTIA) in the combat zone. This armored personnel carrier, which has a crew of 4 soldiers, is robust, well protected and mobile on any terrain.

For this purpose, the MEPAC is equipped with a 120mm rifled semi-automatic mortar 2R2M. It is capable of firing 120mm conventional mines at a range of up to 8.14 km, active-reactive mines at a range of up to 12.85 km, and PERM-guided active-reactive mines at a range of up to 17 km.

The vehicle’s ammunition is 32 rounds, which are stored in the rear. The semi-automatic loading system is said to allow an experienced crew to fire up to 12 rounds in 90 seconds.

The self-propelled mortar is produced by a temporary association of companies producing multipurpose armored vehicles. It includes manufacturers KNDS France, Thales and Arquus.

In October 2024, the French Marine Corps conducted a training exercise using the EBRC Jaguar armored reconnaissance vehicle against surface and airborne kamikaze drones.