Belgium’s Three Leading Defence Firms Form Joint Venture to Support Belgian Army.

Belgium’s three leading defence companies have formed a joint venture to provide long-term logistical and technical support for the Belgian Army’s Land Component. The move centralizes sustainment of vehicles, communications, and weapons systems, strengthening readiness while simplifying future land-force support.

Belgium’s land forces will soon rely on a single, integrated industrial support structure following the creation of Land Systems Logistic Support (LS), a joint venture formed by John Cockerill Defense, Thales Belgium, and FN Herstal. The companies confirmed on January 30, 2026, that LS will handle long-term maintenance and lifecycle support for the Belgian Army Land Component’s platforms, onboard armament, and information and communication systems, a model intended to improve operational availability while aligning industry support more closely with military needs.
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Under the CaMo programme, Belgium has placed three orders for the VBMR Griffon (Véhicule Blindé Multi-Rôles), in 2018, 2022, and 2025, representing close to 500 vehicles, while 60 EBRC Jaguar (Engin Blindé de Reconnaissance et de Combat) vehicles are also expected. (Picture source: Army Recognition)

From an industrial standpoint, the chosen model is based on pooling capabilities and reinforcing national autonomy in sustainment. According to information reported in mid-January, maintenance activities are expected to rely on several Belgian sites, including Rocourt, Marche, and Bourg-Léopold. The Rocourt arsenal already hosts the Rolling Equipment and Armament Competence Centre, described as the largest facility of its kind in Belgium, making it a key anchor point for an organisation expected to manage increasing volumes of interventions, spare parts, and repair cycles. In parallel, the approach is designed to keep maintenance closer to operational units, a requirement to limit vehicle downtime and sustain a training tempo aligned with NATO obligations.

The Belgian Ministry of Defence frames the partnership as a strategic investment intended to consolidate defence autonomy, preserve critical industrial skills on national territory, and support the creation of skilled jobs. Defence Minister Théo Francken describes LS as a first for Belgium, presenting it as an “integrated” and “all-in-one” solution intended to raise the performance level of the vehicle fleet and, by extension, the combat capability of land units. In his remarks, emphasis is placed on the coherence of the selected model: a single industrial structure connected to operational requirements, rather than multiple separate contracts.

The division of responsibilities follows a functional logic. John Cockerill Defense contributes experience in land combat systems and turret integration, which is relevant for sustaining and modernising heavy armament capabilities. FN Herstal, a major player in small arms, supports the maintenance of vehicle-mounted weapons, associated safety and compliance requirements, and long-term reliability of armament systems. Thales Belgium covers an increasingly decisive area for fleet readiness: communications, sensors, and information systems, meaning the electronic and software components that determine whether a platform can be used effectively within a connected force architecture.

This setup reflects a technical reality that is increasingly shaping land fleet availability: readiness is no longer driven only by mechanical reliability. Modern armoured vehicles integrate distributed electronic architectures in which sensors, computing units, and subsystems exchange data through internal buses. A failure affecting an embedded component, communications module, or digital interface can immobilise a platform as effectively as a drivetrain issue. In the same way, software version control, cybersecurity constraints, and radio compatibility have become readiness factors in their own right, requiring a structured approach to configuration management and sustainment.

Ongoing Belgian Army modernisation programmes add context to the initiative. Under the CaMo programme, Belgium has placed three orders for the VBMR Griffon (Véhicule Blindé Multi-Rôles), in 2018, 2022, and 2025, representing close to 500 vehicles according to available information, while 60 EBRC Jaguar (Engin Blindé de Reconnaissance et de Combat) vehicles are also expected. Belgium has ordered close to 500 VBMR Griffon vehicles through three procurement batches (2018, 2022 and 2025), while 60 EBRC Jaguar vehicles are on order, with the first Griffon vehicles received by the Belgian Army in July 2025. The Griffon is a 6×6 multi-role armoured personnel carrier for protected troop transport and support, whereas the Jaguar is a 6×6 reconnaissance and combat platform armed with a 40 mm CTAS cannon and typically fitted with MMP (Missile Moyenne Portée) anti-tank missiles.

Within this framework, LS plans to implement integrated and consistent support, including a shared readiness monitoring system between industry and the Ministry of Defence. This tracking approach is intended to identify failure trends, anticipate spare parts requirements, and reduce mean time to repair (MTTR), a metric that has become central to managing modern fleets. Data-driven sustainment methods, long established in aviation, are increasingly applied to land forces, where readiness depends as much on industrial organisation and logistics forecasting as on technical intervention.

From a tactical and operational perspective, the expected effects are immediate. A more available fleet enables faster generation of combat power with less uncertainty, notably for NATO reassurance missions and training rotations. Integrated sustainment also reduces the risk of “silent” attrition, which erodes capability through wear, spare parts cannibalisation, or accumulated maintenance delays. By ensuring continuity of support over several decades, Belgium aims to preserve the ability to deploy complete units, rather than concentrating operational output on a limited number of vehicles under constant use.

The initiative also fits into a broader European trend of rebuilding industrial and logistical depth after decades of rationalisation. The European Commission has cleared the operation, concluding that the concentration involving three major industrial actors does not raise competition concerns within the European Economic Area, and it used a simplified procedure to accelerate approval. In a strategic environment shaped by the return of high-intensity considerations and logistical lessons from the war in Ukraine, LS supports Belgium’s ability to provide reliable land capabilities to allied operations while consolidating a national industrial base able to sustain effort over time. At the European level, such arrangements underline that military credibility depends not only on procurement, but also on the less visible sustainment infrastructure that keeps fleets available, updated, and deployable if deterrence fails.