TSAMTO, February 21. As part of a visit to Nexter's enterprise in Roan on February 19, French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced four contracts for the supply of equipment and weapons to the country's armed Forces with a total value of more than 1.8 billion. euro.
Purchases are made in accordance with the "Law on Military Programs for 2019-2025" (Loi de Programming Militaire, LPM) by the General Directorate for Armaments DGA (Direction Generale de l'Armement) of the Ministry of the Armed Forces of France.
According to Reuters, the cost of the contract signed with Nexter for the development of 155-mm self-propelled howitzers of the new generation CAESAR is 600 million euros. The agreement will create 300 new workers at the plants of Nexter, its partners and subcontractors throughout France. French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly was also present at the signing ceremony of the agreement.
In addition, the head of the French government officially announced his intention to start implementing the fourth stage of the SCORPION program in the coming weeks, the purpose of which is to modernize the combat capabilities of the Ground Forces, including through the supply of new armored vehicles (BBM "Griffon", "Jaguar" and "Serval").
The new tranche provides for the production of 88 Jaguar armored vehicles and 356 Griffon armored vehicles, including 54 vehicles of the MEPAC version with a 120 mm mortar. The value of this contract is estimated at 1.257 billion. euro. The work under this program will allow to increase the staff at the plant in Roan by 600 people in 2 years. In the following years, the number of employees will increase by another 400 people.
As stated, in total, almost 5 billion rubles will be invested in the SCORPION program in the period 2021-2025. euro.
The order for the supply of 54 Griffon BBM versions of MEPAC was received two years after the launch of this program. On December 30, 2019, DGA signed a contract with a consortium formed by Nexter, Arquus and Thales to develop a self-propelled mortar MEPAC (mortier embarque pour l'appui au contact) under the SCORPION program. As part of the project, the 120-mm mortar system 2R2M (Rifled Recoiled Mounted Mortar) will be placed on the chassis of the multipurpose armored vehicle VBMR "Griffon". It will be used for fire support from closed positions. Certification tests are expected in 2022-2023, and the first deliveries are expected in 2024.
