The OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’Armement, Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation) has signed with Arquus, and Nexter, a KNDS company, the VBAE contract on behalf of the OCCAR VBAE Participating States Belgium and France. The VBAE Programme stems from the need of the French and Belgian armies for a modern, innovative light armoured vehicle, fully integrated into the battlefield information system and offering a high added value in terms of reconnaissance and combat.
This signing marks the first step towards converging of the operational requirements and architecture of this future armored vehicle, whose development and production are expected within the French and Belgian armies as of 2030.The project’s realization will be ensured by the Consortium consisting of the lead contractor Arquus and its co-contractor Nexter, which will subcontract some of its activities to the Belgian company John Cockerill Defense (JCD). This partnership, initiated from the pre-design phase, marks the desire for Franco-Belgian industrial cooperation on a major armaments program.
The VBAE Programme covers the preparation and definition phase anticipating further development, production and ISS contract in the near future. The overall value of this first phase is 15 M€ and it will last approximately two years. The VBAE Programme takes advantage from studies performed in the frame of European projects, such as EDIDP FAMOUS and EDF FAMOUS II, in which Arquus and Nexter are part of the beneficiaries. The Belgian company John Cockerill Defense (JCD), also member of the FAMOUS consortium, will be a major sub-contractor.
The VBAE is the result of a close collaboration between industry, OCCAR and the customer nations in order to replace, for France, the VBL (Light Armoured Vehicle) which is in service within the French forces since the late 1980s. For Belgium, the VBAE represents an additional step in the development of its motorized capacity by reinforcing its reconnaissance and command and control capabilities. The VBAE will be a versatile system suitable for many types of missions. A strong emphasis will be place on essential performances of mobility, stealth, protection, and fire function. It will combine compactness and optimized payload capacity.
