The consortium between Arquus and Nexter, a company of KNDS, has signed a pre-design contract with the Organisation for Joint Armaments Cooperation (OCCAR) for the VBAE (Véhicule Blindé d’Aide à l’Engagement), a new generation of light armored vehicles for France and Belgium.
The VBAE is a joint project between the two countries, which aims to replace the aging VBL (Light Armoured Vehicle) for France and to enhance the reconnaissance and command and control capabilities for Belgium. The VBAE will be a versatile system suitable for many types of missions, with a strong emphasis on mobility, stealth, protection, and fire function. It will combine compactness and optimized payload capacity.
The pre-design contract, signed on December 6, 2023, marks the first step towards converging of the operational requirements and architecture of this future armored vehicle, whose development and production are expected within the French and Belgian armies as of 2030.
The project’s realization will be ensured by the Consortium consisting of the lead contractor Arquus and its co-contractor Nexter, which will subcontract some of its activities to the Belgian company John Cockerill Defense (JCD). This partnership, initiated from the pre-design phase, marks the desire for Franco-Belgian industrial cooperation on a major armaments program.
The VBAE program is also perfectly consistent with the FAMOUS project supported by the European Defence Fund (EDF) financed by the European Commission. FAMOUS (Future highly mobile Augmented ArMOUred Systems) covers the development of innovative technological blocks common to future European armored vehicles. Arquus, Nexter, and JCD are major partners in this FAMOUS project.
The launch of the VBAE project marks the advent of an ambitious and innovative cooperation. The Arquus, Nexter and JCD teams are fully committed and confident in the success of this undertaking.