France Lacks Money for NATO-Linked Army Modernization Effort

Project Scorpion, originally a US idea, is a multinational military modernization program aimed at the integration of NATO-member militaries. The French version of the effort will see the development of military equipment like the Griffon multirole troop carrier and the Jaguar combat vehicle, as well as an upgrade for the Leclerc tank, and crew training and maintenance.

Of €6 billion Paris promised to allocate in the next 11 years, only €1 billion has been budgeted for 2014-2019.

The first stage of the Jaguar and Griffon vehicle development program development was kicked off in 2014, and the military is now trying to squeeze the rest of the promised money from the government.

“We still need to secure future funding under the next military budget law,” Army Maj. Gen. Bertrand Houitte de la Chesnais stated on April 25, adding that the armed services needs money for the “structural significance” of stage two.

Stage two is scheduled to begin in 2023, before the end of an inaugural phase to be completed by 2028.

“The challenge today is to secure funding for the program under the present and next multiyear budget law,” Jean-Marc Duquesne, managing director at Groupement des Industries de Défense et de Sécurité Terrestres et Aéroterrestres (Gicat), said, calling the program “ambitious.”

Under current projections, the €6 billion will cover the program’s expenses to 2033. Of that sum, €1.5 billion will be spent on developing military equipment as chassis, engines, electronics and communications.

By the end of the program, the Army hopes to have some 1,722 Griffon vehicles in ten versions, each for a specific mission, 248 Jaguar combat vehicles armed with MBDA medium-range missiles and 358 units of yet-to-be-designed reconnaissance vehicles.

The program also predicts a “collaborative combat” system that would network battle groups to limit “blue-on-blue” casualties.