French 11th Parachute Brigade and Mountain Troops to receive about 200 VBMR-L Serval armored vehicles.

As recalled by Laurent Lagneau in Oex360, in January 2021, the Directorate General of Armaments [DGA] notified the order of 364 Light Multirole Armored Vehicles "Serval" from Nexter and Texelis, out of a total of 978 units planned under the program. SCORPION (Synergie du contact renforcée par la polyvalence et l’infovalorisation, Synergy of contact reinforced by versatility and infovaluation). And these devices were to be delivered by 2025, including 119 in 2023.
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A VBMR-L Serval in winter camouflage was displayed on April 9, 2023, by the French army during an open-door day at the Marche-en-Famenne camp, the base of the Belgian Motorized Brigade (Picture source: Alain Henry de Frahan)

According to the Ministry of the Armed Forces, called upon to strengthen the means of support of the Land Forces, the Serval will equip "as a priority the infantry units of the light brigades", including those of the 11th Parachute Brigade (11 BP) and of the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade (27 BIM). But they will have to wait to have their full endowment. About 2,000 Servals will have been delivered to the Army by 2035: about 200 units will have been received by January 2024 by the Centre de formation et de perception unique [CFPU] in Mourmelon, attached to CAPCIA-51RI. These Servals will then be distributed to Army units by 2025.

A priori, 29 Servals, at most, will be delivered to the infantry regiments of these two brigades, including the 3rd RPIMa, 8th RPIMa, 1st RCP, 2nd REP, 7th BCA, 13th BCA [with Griffon] and 27th BCA. Laurent Lagneau questions: when will the turn of the infantry units of the 27th BIM come? For the moment, the 7th Battalion of Alpine Hunters (7 BCA), in conjunction with the Technical Section of the Army [STAT], is participating in the technical-operational evaluation of the Serval in a “very cold” environment.

The 7th Battalion of Alpine Hunters (7 BCA), in conjunction with the Technical Section of the Army [STAT], is participating in the technical-operational evaluation of the Serval in a “very cold” environment (Picture source: A. Cullati / 7th BCA)

A VBMR-L Serval in winter camouflage was displayed on April 9, 2023, by the French army during an open-door day at the Marche-en-Famenne camp, the base of the Belgian Motorized Brigade (Picture source: Alain Henry de Frahan)

Defense News April 2023