The delivery of 20 Jaguar armored vehicles to the Canjuers military base (Var) completes a design and production phase by a consortium of French companies that began in 2014. The Jaguars – reconnaissance and combat vehicles – were launched as part of the Scorpion program, intended to modernize the French Army.
Behind the name Jaguar, an acronym: EBRC (for armored reconnaissance and combat vehicle). The Scorpion program aims to modernize the Army’s cavalry. And this, in particular, by the purchase of the EBRCs, replacing the so-called “à” tanks which had equipped this army corps since the 1970s. The Jaguars thus succeeded the Sagaie and AMX10-RC equipment, sometimes fifty years old. years old and therefore obsolete. Great news finally, the Jaguars are connected vehicles… whose advanced technology allows the exchange of information in combat situations.
The companies Arquus, Thalès, and Nexter worked in synergy, from design to construction. The result: armor of around 25 tons and a simultaneous transport capacity of ten soldiers. The aircraft is equipped with medium-range anti-tank missiles, grenade launchers and three machine guns.
Strengthen the French strike force
The Scorpion program, a vast military renewal program, was initiated by the Ministry of Defence. Among other things, it provides for the modernization of Leclerc tanks and troop-carrying vehicles. Like the Griffon (reconnaissance and transport vehicle, delivered in 339 copies and transported over the last two years to the military bases of Gao and Timbuktu in Mali). The first EBRC models, delivered in the Var, were intended for the 1st Chasseurs d’Afrique regiment. They should be deployed next year in a theater of operations, in a real situation.
The success is also industrial. Because French military know-how fills the order books, including for export. In 2019, as part of a strategic cooperation agreement, Belgium ordered no less than 442 new generation vehicles from France. By 2030, the French Army should receive 280 additional models, bringing the total number of jaguars held by the tricolor army corps to 300.