The consortium between Arquus, Nexter and Europe’s Organisation for Joint Armaments Co-operation (OCCAR) signed the pre-design contract for the Véhicule Blindé d’Aide à l’Engagement (Armoured Engagement Support Vehicle – VBAE) in Paris on 6 December 2023.
The VBAE programme emerged from the need of the French and Belgian armies for a modern, innovative light armoured vehicle, with a fully integrated battlefield information system, that offers high added value in terms of reconnaissance and combat. For the French Army the VBAE would replace the Panhard Véhicule Blindé Léger (Light Armoured Vehicle – VBL), which has been in service since the late 1980s. For Belgium the VBAE would represent an additional step in the development of its motorised capacity by reinforcing its reconnaissance and command-and-control capabilities.
The pre-design contract signing marks the first step towards converging of the operational requirements and architecture of this future armoured vehicle, the development and production of which expected to take place from 2030. This initial phase of the programme has an overall value of EUR 15 M and is due to last for around two years, according to OCCAR.
As the European intergovernmental procurement agency responsible for co-operative defence contract management, OCCAR has been entrusted with setting up and managing the VBAE programme. Arquus, meanwhile, is the lead contractor and Nexter, which is part of KNDS, is the co-contractor. Some of Nexter’s activities under the programme will be subcontracted to the Belgian company John Cockerill Defense (JCD).
The VBAE is intended to be a versatile vehicle suitable for many types of missions. A joint Arquus/KNDS press release said of the vehicle, “A strong emphasis will be placed on essential performances of mobility, stealth, protection, and fire function”, adding that it “will combine compactness and optimised payload capacity”.
The VBAE programme is consistent with the Future highly mobile Augmented ArMOUred Systems (FAMOUS) project sustained by the European Commission’s European Defence Fund (EDF). FAMOUS covers the development of innovative technological blocks common to future European armoured vehicles. Arquus, Nexter, and JCD are major partners in the FAMOUS project.
