On the vast hilly plateau of the Caylus military camp (Tarn-et-Garonne), the men of 3e marine infantry parachute regiment pose proudly on Tuesday, May 23, next to a newcomer to their ranks: the Serval, a seventeen-ton armored 4 × 4, designed for paratrooper and mountain infantry units. The “3” is the first regiment to be equipped with this latest addition to the new generation of armored vehicles.
After the arrival of the Griffon from 2019 and the Jaguar from 2021 to replace the old AMX-10RC, some units of which are intended for Ukraine, the entry into service of the Serval seals the end of an era for Land Force. It marks the scheduled end of the VAB (front armored vehicle), this troop transport vehicle dating back more than forty years, so far the most widespread within the army.
“We are moving from a vehicle to a real combat tool”explains Colonel Benoît Cussac, commanding officer of the 3e RPIMa, about the twenty new Servals, of which he recovered the keys in February. Based in Carcassone, his regiment hopes to receive nine more by the end of the year. A limited number, but which restores some mass to its fleet of vehicles, weakened by years of budget cuts.
The first of a long series
These copies of Serval must be the first of a long series. The military programming law (LPM), currently being debated in the National Assembly, plans to deliver a thousand of them to the army by 2030. This armored vehicle is the only one to have escaped, at this stage, the budget cuts imposed by the executive, despite the 413 billion euros allocated to the army by the LPM.
In Caylus, the young red berets of 3e RPIMa feel privileged. Whereas on the VAB, which has a very noisy engine, “you always had to yell to hear each other and give directions, with the Serval, everyone takes part in the mission”, details an officer. Visibility through the windshield is much better for rear passengers; maneuverability, clearly superior. “It drives like a car”, summarizes Captain Jeanson, Serval referent within the regiment. Heating and air conditioning are also available.
There is also no longer any need to expose a soldier outside to target the enemy. All surveillance and arming systems can be controlled from inside the vehicle. “Well positioned, a Serval can replace a combat group at night”, continues Colonel Cussac. Especially since it is equipped with the first bricks of Scorpion, this computer system on which the army invests a lot in order to advance towards combat “collaborative”. At this stage, Scorpion allows in particular to geolocate friendly units, something impossible on VAB.
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