Four years after the notification of the EBMR contract to GME Scorpion (Thales-Nexter-Arquus), the Ministry of the Armies took delivery last Thursday at Satory of a first batch of six VBMR Griffon. " Today, we are fully entering the Scorpio era, an era of rapidity, an era of performance, agility and enhanced protection ," welcomed the Minister of Armies, Florence Parly.
Notified in December 2014, the EBMR market involved the delivery of 1722 VBMR Griffons to replace the VAB fleet. The LPM 2019-2025 has since been ratified, materializing the revaluation of the targets and the acceleration of deliveries. " Very concretely, concerning the Griffon, it will be 150 more vehicles that will be ordered, to reach 1872 copies by 2030. And I also wanted to speed up delivery rates: by 2025, it will be 50% of Scorpion program vehicles that have been delivered to the Army , "Parly recalled.
Of the six vehicles delivered last week, three will be used to carry out training at Camp Courtine (Creuse) until the end of July. The other three will soon be taking part in communication activities, including the military parades on 14 July in Paris and 21 July in Brussels, as part of the Belgian National Day. By the end of the month, the Army will take delivery of six more vehicles, then 14 in August. In October, the month during which the technical and operational evaluations (EVTO) will begin, the STAT will have received 56 vehicles. All pass first through the "sas" of the DGA, which for one to two months, sift every vehicle delivered by the manufacturer.
The first multi-role Griffon armored vehicles, 24.5 tons and 400 horses intended to replace the ancient VAB (armored front vehicles), were delivered this Thursday, July 4 at Satory (Yvelines), in the presence of the Minister of Armies Florence Parly. These deliveries mark the beginning of an impressive replacement phase for the Army's mid-range armor known as the Scorpion program. This 5 billion euro project will see the arrival in the forces of 3,150 new armored vehicles, half of which by 2025, and the renovation of 200 Leclerc tanks.
Ninety-nine copies of the Griffon, designed by Nexter, Arquus and Thales, are due by the end of 2019, including a dozen this summer. The objective is to be able to project a first combined arms battlegroup (GTIA) equipped with Griffon in 2021. The first regiments served will be the 3rd Regiment of Marine infantry, (Vannes), the 13th Battalion of Alpine hunters (Barby, in Savoie ), the 1st Infantry Regiment (Sarrebourg), the 21st Marine Infantry Regiment (Fréjus), and the 3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (Carcassonne).
What is the Griffon? This 6X6, declined in 11 versions and sub-versions, is primarily intended for the transport of troops, but it can also carry out medical missions, of observation of artillery or to serve as command post. With a modular architecture, with a system of mission kits, it will take four hours to switch from one version to another, with only two people. No need to go back to the factory like the VABs: a lot of the changes will be done in theaters of operation. The machines were also designed to be very manoeuvrable: "I was surprised by the remarkable maneuverability of these vehicles," said the Army Chief of Staff, General Jean-Pierre Bosser, Members of the Defense Committee on June 5. They are able to walk around a tree with much more agility than a heavy weight of the same size. "
With its thick aluminum hull, the Griffon, which can carry a dozen soldiers, displays the highest level of protection in the world against landmines and improvised explosive devices (IED), ensures Nexter. It incorporates a 12.7mm teleoperated machine gun, an automatic grenade launcher (LGA) and is equipped with an impressive battery of sensors to protect it from enemy fire: laser alert detector when it is aimed, detector of departure of missile or firing, radio and infrared jammers. If the sensors detect a laser that is pointing at the vehicle, the vehicle sends smoke to be able to fold back safely.
Exit the rumor of a possible shift in the delivery schedule following the procrastination of the qualification phase. Nexter's assembly lines in Roanne are now running at full capacity, supported by an investment of € 80 million and an acceleration of recruitment. " We have dozens of vehicles in production, to achieve the two objectives shared by all players (...) : obtain the qualification of the multi-role armored vehicle (VMBR), the Griffon, by the DGA from here the 1 st of July; and deliver, before the end of 2019, the first 92 Griffons to the forces - at least, present them to the DGA at first for acceptance, before they arrive in the forces Confirmed Nexter Group CEO Stéphane Mayer on May 15 against MPs from the National Defense and Armed Forces Commission. Objective completed for the qualification, obtained on June 24th. This stage, dubbed "Preliminary Qualification Review", gives the green light for deliveries to the forces. It will be followed by a qualification supplement carried out in the summer of 2020, a second step applied for each variant and intended to " verify that everything that was delivered in the state has not drifted in the meantime ", explains us. Lieutenant-Colonel Xavier, Griffon Program Officer in the STAT.
So, for those who have been hibernating for the last four years, what is the Griffon? According to Parly, " you have to see the griffon as an allegory of collaborative combat. At once a lion, an eagle and a horse, we could not find a better name than Griffon for a multi-role armored vehicle . " Beyond mythology, " it is a true technological and operational leap that our infantry vehicles make. Capable of collecting all the data from its environment and transforming it into combat information, equipped with decision-making tools to deal with threats, the new Griffon vehicles are at the forefront of collaborative combat Says Parly. In fact, the delivery of these first vehicles officially gives birth to a space infocentré, flexible, evolutionary and infovalorisé. This "Scorpion Bubble" will rely on a unique Scorpion Combat Information System (SICS) to network all systems in a coherent and unified way. And on the subject of the MASAS, concerns about the vehicle's computing capabilities seem beautiful and far-fetched. Although being stabilized, the intermediate version of the system has already proven itself at the level of the GTIA, during a test involving a hundred vehicles. " We'll be there for 2021, " says STAT.
While optional on the Griffon, the integration of remotely operated turrets is a valuable asset for infantry units. These systems not only allow shooting in motion, but also offers a major boost in protection. " This is a big step forward for the crew, who remain safe during the entire shooting phase ," explains a STAT colonel whose former unit lost two VAB fencers. The mobility component is based on a 6 × 6 drivetrain provided by Arquus. Due to the first and third directional axles, the Griffon has a turning circle of 17 meters between walls, or five meters of a less that a VBCI of equivalent size.
To rationalize the development, production and maintenance costs of the fleet, the Army has chosen a semi-modular platform. The front of the vehicle, the engine compartment to the intermediate partition, will be identical to the entire fleet. Only the rear half, from the second axle, will be modular. It will thus be possible to evolve from an MMP sub-version to a FELIN sub-version simply by replacing the missile supports of the rear part of the passenger compartment with seats. This unique configuration will allow the Army to replace cheaply the thirty versions of VAB. The Griffon will be available in six major variants: ATV (all-terrain vehicle), VOA (artillery observation vehicle), EPC (command post machine), SAN (sanitary), MEPAC (embedded mortar for contact support, variant based on the 120 mm 2R2M mortar from Thales) and NRBC. The main "family", the ATV Griffon, will be subdivided into seven sub-versions, which are the FELIN, FELIN STE (Sniper Section), FELIN MO81 (81mm mortar), FELIN MMP, Engineering, ELI (light element intervention "repair and recovery") and RAV (refueling). The STE and MMP versions will appear at the beginning of 2020, followed a few months later by the main variant VOA. This, as well as the SAN version, will be qualified by the DGA by 2021. ELI (light intervention element) and RAV (refueling). The STE and MMP versions will appear at the beginning of 2020, followed a few months later by the main variant VOA. This, as well as the SAN version, will be qualified by the DGA by 2021. ELI (light intervention element) and RAV (refueling). The STE and MMP versions will appear at the beginning of 2020, followed a few months later by the main variant VOA. This, as well as the SAN version, will be qualified by the DGA by 2021.
Apart from these variants, there are several levels of adaptability for the Griffon. In addition to the common base, this central attribute that is modularity indeed extends to kits cupola or protection. " Not all vehicles have them right away, these kits being installed according to the needs of the mission, " says Lieutenant-Colonel Xavier.
GRIFFON FIGTHING VEHICLE PROGRAMM / A TRUE UPGRADE FOR COMBAT
Intended to equip in particular the infantry battalions currently equipped with the armored wheeled vehicle (VAB), the GRIFFON is one of the major vehicles of the SCORPION program, since it is at the same time a new vehicle and a carrier of the systems of SCORPION combat information. Its main assets are:
- high modularity and ubiquitous ergonomics,
- a high level of protection,
- a native disposition to collaborative combat,
With its 24.5 tons weight and able to bring 10 fighters, the GRIFFON can be projected in Europe as well as in Africa or in other latitudes.
The GRIFFON, like the SERVAL that will follow, will replace the VAB fleet and complete the range of armored vehicles. With them, electronic warfare capabilities or tactical communication nodes can be shielded.
Great modularity and omnipresent ergonomics
Modularity to play all roles
In order to optimize maintenance and support, as well as instruction and training, the GRIFFON has been designed in a kits logic. This logic makes it possible to retain, from one version to another, a large part of the vehicle and to differentiate them
essentially by kits. These kits must be identical from one version to another and some of them will also equip other SCORPION vehicles, such as JAGUAR and SERVAL. These kits are grouped by function. Thus, the SLA (acoustic locating system), DAL (laser warning detector), DDM (missile departure detector), BIR (infrared jammer) or motion detection kits will be part of the «soft kill» function.
In order to facilitate the design and rationalization of production, the rear compartment will be modular. Thus, it will be possible to switch from a sub-version MMP (medium-range missile) to a FELIN sub-version by replacing the missile supports of the rear part of the cockpit by seats.
The front part of the GRIFFON will be identical on all versions, from the engine compartment to the intermediate partition, through the driver and shooter cell.
Ergonomics, the purpose of all attentions
From the design stage, the ergonomics of the vehicle were different from those that prevailed on the generation of VABs or AMX10P (tracked infantry fighting vehicle). The modern ergonomics of the GRIFFON is particularly adapted to the generation of fighters of the years 2010, taking into account the anthropometric evolutions of the soldiers in the 21st century. In order to offer a great modularity and a real team life for the crew, the choice was made to place the engine at the front of the vehicle and to have a passenger compartment monovolume. The large windshield will provide the infantry squad with excellent visibility in the front of the vehicle, and the tactical leader
will be able to follow the route as well as to see his entire squad. This windshield will be a real asset in urban combat. Equally appreciable will be the turning radius of the GRIFFON, identical to that of the VAB, for a much larger size. This technical advantage is possible thanks to the directional rear wheels. Ergonomics is followed with great attention throughout the development, during which the ergonomists of the STAT ( Army Technical Cell for Land Equipments) provide valuable advice to industry. Thus, access to the upper hatchs is provided so that men and women of all sizes can serve their weapon by tapping back or maneuvering the cupola. If the air conditioning is installed first to keep the computer and electronic equipment in working order, it will also be appreciated by the crew who can fight longer and in better conditions. As for the pilot, the shooter and the tactical leader, they will benefit from large screens that will serve the turret teleoperated, manage the radio networks of the squad to monitor the tactical situation, but also the logistics data of the vehicle (consumption or maintenance).
A high level of protection
To cope with the threats encountered in all theaters of operation, the need for protection has been described in the design of the Griffon taking into account many threats. Thus, in addition to a high level of ballistic protection, the GRIFFON is highly protected against improvised explosive devices. On the one hand, the underbelly is far from the ground because the first protection against an IED is the distance separating the vehicle from the explosion. On the other hand, this underbelly is V-shaped in order to divide the blast. This shape reduces the blast effect by dispersing the energy on the body and minimizing the shock wave. Inside, the protection against this shock wave is complemented by a double-bottom and seats fixed to the body at the places studied. Finally, so that the weapons do not themselves become projectiles in the event of an explosion, they can be inserted quickly in a cover completely adapted to the storage and quick access by the soldier
Like all vehicles of its generation, the GRIFFON can be equipped with additional armor and rocket protection. Complementing this protection function, sensors can be assembled on the body, such as the DDM ( Missile departure detector) , the DAL ( Laser warning detector), the SLA or the cameras of proximal observation. These sensors, connected to the vetron of the vehicle, will allow the Griffon to adopt the best reaction in case of telemetry by an enemy, departure of missile towards him, or in case of a simple shot. The Vetronics will automatically propose a GALIX4 (self-protection device) ammunition firing, a turret rally in the dangerous direction, or a direct proposal to the friendly vehicles best placed to react. Thus a JAGUAR (or another GRIFFON), warned automatically and instantly, will see on his screen a proposal to fire on the enemy author of the telemetry or departure missile. The operator will only have to validate the proposal.
This validation will be necessary to trigger the shot, because man must decide the shot to remain master of the fight.
With a high level of ballistic protection through its modular armour system (up to NATO STANAG 4569 Level 4) that provides a ballistic protection against firing of small arms 14.5×114mm AP / B32 at 200 meters with 911 m/s and shell splinters at 30 m of the vehicle and mine protection 10 kg of mine explosion under the center of the hull and the wheels. The Griffon can be also fitted with a wire cage armor to increase protection against anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attacks. In option, the vehicle could be equipped with add-on armor to increase ballistic and mine protection. The crew cabin at the front of the vehicle is fitted with a large bulletproof windscreen and one door on each side. Each side of the crew compartment is fitted with two small bulletproof. At the rear the hull, there is one power-operated ramp that opens downwards which allows infantrymen to quickly enter and leave the vehicle. The vehicle is fitted with mine-blast protection seats, four on each side of the troops compartment.
Collaborative combat
All these machines are thought for the so-called collaborative fight. They will exchange thousands of data in real time via a common information system (SICS), developed by Atos-Bull. A vehicle will be able to know, in real time, how much ammunition or fuel remains to an allied craft, what enemies surround it, and if it needs support. "In terms of embedded electronics, we go from a 2CV to a Google Car, summarized Sebastien Renard, Scorpion project director at Thales at the presentation of the Griffon in 2017. The idea is to synthesize thousands of data very simple, so that the vehicle commander has a clear view of the situation, and can make a quick decision. " The tactical situation will be updated every 5 seconds. The vehicles will be based in particular on the new software radio Contact, developed by Thales, and on a common electronic architecture, called "common vétronique Scorpion".
And after ?
" The 92 vehicles that we will receive by the end of the year will be used for what I call appropriation by the Army ," notes Lieutenant-Colonel Xavier. It is, initially, training provided by the industrial for the benefit of STAT instructors. These will in turn train the users, in parallel with the conduct of the EVTOs. With these deliveries, an essential phase of experimentation started by the STAT with a main objective: to redefine the vehicle by the milestone of production of 2021. From the development to the carriage through the integration of ammunition, a myriad of elements are likely to evolve according to the first RETEX. " Up or down the rear ramp may result in changing the positioning to suit a soldier carrying a package of 20 kg, "questions, for example, the STAT. For this purpose, it will have a single device, which will be occasionally supported by the Scorpion Combat Force Expertise (FECS) and some vehicles taken from the regiments, particularly for the communication component.
These EVTOs will take place in three main phases. The largest will start next October, when STAT staff will thoroughly analyze the vehicle's capabilities in terms of ergonomics, transportability, disembarkation and embarkation, aggression, communication, protection, etc. All, for a first regiment delivery three months later. This phase completed, the Army plans a software update, followed by an overall reassessment. The EVTO scheme will end with a series of tests in hot and cold weather, conducted respectively in Djibouti in September 2020 and in Scandinavia during the winter of 2020-2021.
Primoformateur for the Griffon and Jaguar vehicles (but not for the Serval, entrusted to the CENTIAL-51st RI of Mourmelon), the 1st RCA should receive its first vehicles at the end of the summer in order to begin the formation of the elements of the 3rd RIMa from Vannes next November. In February 2020, "The Big Three" will become the first infantry regiment to complete this training and receive a first batch of twenty Griffon. It will be followed, in 2020, by the 13th BCA, 1st IR, 21st RIMa and 3rd RPIMa. This rhythm of three to four regiments per year will continue until 2023, at which time all the Army's infantry units will be formed. According to this scheme, the Army should be equipped with a first projectable GTIA by 2021, followed in 2023 by a first projectable joint brigade.
The 1st RCA should also ensure the delivery of about fifty Griffon in 2019, then 15 vehicles per month from 2020. This position of Griffon's unique perception center will also allow it to carry out all operations of " "good operation check", " which simply means, when you buy a car, to check that everything works. We therefore qualitatively and quantitatively check these vehicles, according to what the DGA has announced to us , "explains Lieutenant-Colonel Xavier. This operation, carried out in parallel with the training mission, will be conducted at the rate of deliveries made by the manufacturer, from 120 to 160 vehicles per year.
Towards a Griffon "brown earth of France"
" Everything is thought so that our soldiers keep the advantage on the ground. And this, in the long term, since the Griffon is designed so that it can gradually integrate new capabilities and new technologies as soon as they are mature. Like our new equipment, it is a vehicle that will be constantly changing, perfected as soon as perfectible, "added Parly last Thursday. Obviously EVTO results, the appropriation of new technologies, the evolution of threats, and therefore needs, will result in the Griffons presented Thursday differ significantly from the 1872nd copy. And these first voluntary changes are already in the cards of the DGA and the STAT.
Among the tracks currently under study, a future unique modular camouflage. The STAT is currently working on "classic" liveries, namely center-Europe, desert and winter. The first two are now fixed, the third is still under development. But these three color schemes will quickly give way to a unique model, designed on the basis of RETEX to respond more effectively to the hardening of the sensors deployed by the opposing side. Unveiled in June 2018 on a model of Serval, the camouflage envisaged by the Army for its combat vehicles should combine a uniform background with retractable geometric shapes. The STAT provides a general passage to the brown earth of France (ex-"coyote") from the 93rd Griffon delivered, and from the beginning for the future Jaguar, expected for 2021. For the time being, find the manufacturer capable of providing the right 'chemistry' and stabilizing it over twenty years ". To avoid the thermal signature, " what we used to do but that we have no right to follow the new regulations is to load lead our paintings, " adds the STAT. In addition, the next primer should avoid washing washed with the black pigment. Not content to be an unnatural color, " black, with time and ultraviolet, turns to a kind of 'blue-gray', which is very bright at night in the low-infrared spectrum ."
The addition of geometric shapes has so far not materialized " by any army in the world ", welcomes the STAT, which confirms having practiced some conclusive tests based on a PVP. The current scenarios provide as much " to integrate scratch, that of the self-adhesive, even the peelable paint ". The latter, similar to the temporary sticker films used for advertising vehicles, is already perfectly mastered by the industrial sector, but only for civil applications. The challenge will be to adapt it to the rigorous conditions of military use. Specifically, this film will be painted on matt paint, whose roughness limits adhesion. A subtlety among others with which the STAT will have to compose by 2021. Modular and evolutive, the Griffon has probably not finished surprising, both from the point of view of the end user and the side of his opponents .