The Belgian parliament’s military procurement commission has greenlit the procurement of a range of advanced defense systems. This includes the approval for the acquisition of 19 self-propelled howitzers, 24 Griffon armored vehicles, 14 mini-drone systems, and two R-ESM systems. During the recent session, the House’s military procurement committee gave the go-ahead to four procurement requests. The most significant among these is the purchase of 19 long-range precision mobile artillery systems, specifically the French-manufactured Caesar NGs – trucks equipped with state-of-the-art artillery systems. This procurement aligns with the defense ministry’s STAR plan, sanctioned by the government and the House the previous year, driven by Minister of Defense Ludivine Dedonder (PS). The committee’s approval sets the stage for presenting these procurement files to the Council of Ministers in the near future.
Belgium had previously placed an order for nine “Caesar NG infovalorized systems” slated for delivery starting in 2027 as part of the strategic partnership with France under the Camo (MOtorized CApacity) program. This initiative aims to foster full interoperability between the armies of both nations by outfitting them with new Griffon and Jaguar combat vehicles. The defense strategy involves acquiring a total of 28 Caesar howitzers to equip an artillery battalion and facilitate the training of artillery personnel. The Belgian armed forces had lost their field artillery capability due to restructuring plans spanning from 2000 to 2020, culminating in the retirement of the M109s. Sources indicate that the House committee, conducted in closed sessions, swiftly approved the procurement of 24 Griffon vehicles equipped with an integrated mortar system (MEPAC) under the CAMO program, with limited debate.
The CAESAR (Camion Équipé d’un Système d’Artillerie, Truck equipped with an artillery system) or is a French 155 mm, 52-caliber self-propelled howitzer that can fire 39/52 caliber NATO-standard shells. It is installed on a 6×6 or 8×8 truck chassis. Equipped with an autonomous weapon network incorporating an inertial navigation system and ballistic computer, the CAESAR can accurately strike targets more than 40 kilometres (25 mi) away using “Extended Range, Full Bore” (ERFB) ammunition with base bleed, or targets over 55 kilometres (34 mi) away using rocket assisted or smart ammunition. The CAESAR 6×6 Mark II new generation (NG) artillery system features a new chassis with a more powerful 460 hp engine and new automatic gearbox, new fire control software, and a Level 2 mine and ballistic armored cabin raising the vehicle’s weight to 25 tonnes (27.56 tons).
The Véhicule Blindé Multi-Rôle Griffon (English: Multirole Armoured Vehicle Griffon) or VBMR Griffon is a French multi-purpose armoured personnel carrier developed and manufactured by Nexter in cooperation with Arquus and Thales.The vehicle is based on a 6×6 commercial all-terrain truck chassis and will carry up to eight infantry soldiers. The consortium building the “Griffon” and “Jaguar” is contractually obliged to keep the price per Griffon under €1 million. The rear compartment of the Griffon MEPAC version is designed to be equipped with a semi-automatic mortar (10 rounds per minute), the 2R2M, 120 mm with a range of 15 km with metric precision, and also with a shell storage space. This version is also equipped with a remotely operated turret with a 12.7 mm machine gun. Its crew will consist of four fighters: the driver, the turret operator, and the two mortar operators.
