Nexter has announced the selection of the Belgian company MOL as its partner for the assembly of the GRIFFON multi-role armoured vehicles. GRIFFON is scheduled to enter service with the Belgian Army from 2025. The agreement is part of the Motorised Capability (CaMo) programme, in the scope of which several cooperation projects with Belgian industries have been agreed.
MOL specialises in the construction of trucks, trailers and special heavy vehicles, and has already worked for the defence industry. The CaMo programme, for which Nexter is the industrial prime contractor with its subcontractors Arquus and Thales, was launched in 2019 by the Belgian and French governments. Its objective is to equip and make the Motorised Brigade of the Belgian Army’s land component fully interoperable with the French Army’s SCORPION units, both in terms of doctrine and equipment. The 382 Belgian GRIFFON vehicles will be assembled by MOL, which is expected to take advantage of a significant transfer of skills and know-how from its new partner Nexter.
This transfer will start in the second half of 2022 in order to prepare the production and assembly, which will take place from 2024 to 2030, with a planned increase of 25 full-time equivalent jobs for MOL.
JH