After more than 40 years of battle-tested use, the French Army is ready to let go of
its aging fleet of Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé or VAB with a more powerful armored personnel
carrier: the Griffon VBMR.
This 6x6 wheeled armored vehicle is about to become the new troop transport vehicle
of the French military.
Fitted with a 400-horsepower Renault engine and a 400-liters tank, the Griffon has an
autonomy of over 800 kilometers and can reach speeds of more than 90 kilometers per hour.
It can easily traverse the harshest terrains, such as jungles and rocky terrain.
The 24.5-tons APC can swiftly deliver up to eight soldiers in the heat of battle under
cover of a hull resistant to heavy machine guns, artillery rounds, and nuclear material.
While in a combat zone, the Griffon can provide cover to its troops, with an arsenal of heavy
machine guns to deter hostile enemy forces employing small arms, and even keep armored
vehicles at bay when equipped with anti-tank guided missiles and smoke grenades, to attack,
relocate, and destroy enemy armor from different positions.
The Veteran The Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé, or VAB,
simply known as Armored Forward Vehicle, has served with distinction in the French armed
forces since its introduction in 1976 during the turbulent days of the Cold War against
the Soviet Union.
The armored personal carrier has served France and its allies in the Western Sahara War,
the Lebanese Civil War, the Bosnian War, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and even the ongoing
Russo-Ukrainian War as of 2023.
The VAB, developed by Renault Trucks Defense, was exported to more than 15 countries and
evolved into more than 30 variants and subvariants, producing over 5,000 armored vehicles.
Besides transporting troops to battlelines or where they were most needed, the VAB was
well suited for mechanized infantry combat, medical evacuation, anti-tank, mortar, artillery
observation, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare roles.
Despite its continuous upgrades and battle-tested performance, the French Army started phasing
out the VAB in 2019 and replaced it with the more powerful VBMR Griffon vehicle.
The Griffon In 2014, during a visit to the 27th Mountain
Infantry Brigade Artillery of Varces, Jean-Yves LE DRIAN, the French Minister of Defence,
handed the EBMR program or Armored Multi-roles Vehicles project to the CEOs of the GME or
Groupement Momentané d'Entreprises formed by the French companies Nexter Systems, Renault
Trucks Defense, and Thales.
The consortium and the French Army agreed on delivering over 1,700 vehicles, beginning
production in 2018 and 2019.
The Griffon is a 6x6 wheeled armored vehicle developed to replace the aging VAB and function
as the newest troop transport vehicle for the French military.
The Griffon shares up to 70% of commonality with upcoming Jaguar EBRC wheeled armored
fighting vehicles.
A prototype was showcased for the first time during Eurosatory 2016 in Paris, France.
Contrary to the VAB and its 30 versions, the consortium announced the Griffon would only
be available in six variants, these being the MEPAC, Ambulance, CRBN, Engineeri
ng, Command and artillery post, and the ATV or Troop Transport Vehicle, which comprises
a refueling, medium-range missile, and sniper shooting section versions.
The Griffon has a length of 20 feet, a width of eight feet, a height of 9.8 feet, and a
gross vehicle weight rating of 24.5 tons.
These dimensions are designed to afford it agility and versatility in the battlefield.
Whatever Comes Its Way The Griffon has a standard vehicle arrangement
with the power pack at the front, the crew in the middle, and the troop compartment at
the rear.
The crew of two comprises a driver and gunner, and up to eight soldiers can sit in the compartment
area.
The exterior structure offers protection against under-hull mines, artillery spray from 155-millimeter
shrapnel, 14.5-millimeter light weapons, and improvised explosive devices.
The Griffon has a 400-horsepower engine coupled with an automatic gearbox, independent running
gears, and 6-wheel drive, providing excellent tactical mobility.
The Griffon also features a steering rear axle, roll-flat system, inflation pressure
variation system, and state-of-the-art electronic architecture.
All these innovations allow the Griffon to reach speeds of up to 90 kilometers per hour
on different types of terrain.
The 400-liter capacity of the tank affords the Griffon a staggering 800-kilometer range,
more than enough for long-term missions.
The Griffon is also prepared for anything that happens on the battlefield.
It was designed with repairability in mind and is very easy to maintain.
The Motor Propulsion Unit can be removed and reinstalled in less than four hours.
On the Offensive In order to protect the troops inside, the
Griffon features a remote weapon station that can be armed with a 40-millimeter grenade
launcher or a 7.62 or 12.7-millimeter machine gun which can include launchers for smoke
grenades.
When the mission requires stronger, more specific firepower, two Akeron MP anti-tank guided
missiles can be fitted.
Depending on the combat scenario, the Griffon crew can decide which armament fits better.
If the objective is to deliver men in a combat zone with enemy forces using small arms, a
machine gun can be more than enough to provide them cover while they reach the hot zone.
On the other hand, if faced with enemy armored vehicles in the combat zone, the anti-tank
guided missiles would come in handy to keep the enemy at bay and deploy smoke grenades
to conceal the movements of the Griffon while it moves across the battlefield to attack
from different zones.
To this end, the Griffon´s turret has a day and night sighting system to bolster accuracy
and enemy detection over the battlefield.
The turret also features a METRAVIB SLATE acoustic sniper localization system.
Other features of the Griffon include a command, control, and networking system, laser and
radar warning protection system, missile detection, and the standard NBC nuclear, biological,
and chemical protection, with overpressure and air conditioning, allowing the personnel
inside with more than adequate shielding from whatever the enemy throws their way.
Scorpion Program The first roadworthy Griffon Multi-Role Combat
Vehicle prototypes began performance trials in August 2019, with more scheduled to be
delivered by 2020 for additional tests.
In September 2020, the French Army Technical Section performed the first boarding tests
of the Griffon VBMR aboard the Navy´s Mistral Amphibious Assault Ship.
The Griffon armored vehicle boarded the Mistral through the ship´s side door to verify its
interoperability with an amphibious vessel moored to a harbor without a Ro-Ro or Roll
on roll capability.
According to Nathan Gain from Naval News, this successful trial complemented other amphibious
tests conducted months earlier, including testing Griffon´s boarding capabilities with
the French EDAR-R rapid amphibious craft and the CTM standard amphibious landing craft.
The Scorpion program is an ambitious large-scale modernization project aiming to update existing
vehicles with new capabilities and procure new ones.
Despite the success of these tests, which have proven the amphibious capability of the
Griffon, there is still a long way to go, as the French military is still in the transition
phase of an all-Scorpion model merging a dual competence, that of an on-board battle group
or Groupement tactique embarqué, and a Scorpionized battle group for amphibious operations.
France seeks to bring the entire military into an age of collaborative and synchronized
combat, which explains why they seek to modernize their combat vehicles with robust sensors,
drone integration, and new levels of communication between troops of different branches.
Ready For Service On December 21, 2021, the new French combat
vehicle developed by Engin Blindé Multi-Rôles for the Scorpion program achieved a new milestone,
delivering the 119th and last troop carrier scheduled for 2021.
The Groupement Momentané d'Entreprises, comprised of Nexter, Arquus, and Thales, took to the
media to mention they had met their delivery target for 2021.
In early 2020, another 128 combat vehicles were submitted for verification, leading to
a total of 339 delivered to the French armed forces.
The latest delivery by the Groupement Momentané d'Entreprises also confirms that all troop
transport variants of the Griffon are now fully qualified, including the 81-millimeter
mortar M081, refueling RAV, engineer GEN, medium-range missile MMP, and the command
post vehicle EPC versions.
Delivery of more Griffon vehicles and tests will continue throughout 2022 and 2023 to
continue improving the capabilities of France's latest armored vehicle.
It is expected the last Griffons will be delivered by 2025 according to the schedule set by the
military and the Groupement Momentané d'Entreprises.
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