buglerbilly
27-05-11, 03:03 AM
Ares
A Defense Technology Blog
Posted by Christina Mackenzie at 5/26/2011 6:05 PM CDT
I got the clearest explanation I've yet had of what the French army's Scorpion program is during a technology demonstration day at the vast Mourmelon army base near Reims in eastern France earlier this week. So for those Ares readers who, like me, have found the concept rather vague I hope the following description will clarify things for you.
Starting in 2016 much of what equips the French army: vehicles, radios, guns etc. will start being obsolete and need replacing. The first phase of Scorpion will replace or upgrade three vehicles and the combat information system for four “interarm tactical groups” (known by their French acronymn as GTIA groupement tactique interarmes), or in other words four battle groups of 1,000 men and women drawn from the infantry, the cavalry and other regiments.
The VAB (véhicule avant blindé) will be replaced by the VBMR (véhicule blindé multi-role), the AMX10RC recce tank will be replaced by the EBRC (engin blindé de reconnaissance et de contact), the Leclerc tank will be renovated and the SICS combat information system common to all these and other vehicles will be developed.
In a later, second phase of Scorpion, the Felin infantryman system will be upgraded and robots and mini-unmanned air vehicles could be integrated into the combat system.
“Scorpion will supply the materiel for these GTIAs starting in 2016,” the industrialist told me on condition I not reveal his name.
The development contract was won by a consortium of Thales/Nexter and Sagem called Mars and its job is to ensure that all this new materiel is coherent and interoperable. For example, he said, “there's not much point in Nexter engineers sitting in their design offices working on the VBMR and then discovering that their colleagues in Thales have been working on a new radio which doesn't fit the radio slot of the vehicle.”
Mars works hand in hand with program officers from the army and program managers from the DGA procurement agency which is piloting the whole enterprise.
The army was also budget-wise in putting all this new equipment under one umbrella because then the number crunchers at the finance ministry can't cut bits and pieces out. “Oh, we can't afford a new coms system so we'll cut it out.” No. Scorpion is like an aircraft carrier. You buy the whole ship or nothing. Obviously you can decide to have shared bathrooms for the crew instead of en-suite but there will be that facility whatever happens. And so it is with Scorpion.
A Defense Technology Blog
Posted by Christina Mackenzie at 5/26/2011 6:05 PM CDT
I got the clearest explanation I've yet had of what the French army's Scorpion program is during a technology demonstration day at the vast Mourmelon army base near Reims in eastern France earlier this week. So for those Ares readers who, like me, have found the concept rather vague I hope the following description will clarify things for you.
Starting in 2016 much of what equips the French army: vehicles, radios, guns etc. will start being obsolete and need replacing. The first phase of Scorpion will replace or upgrade three vehicles and the combat information system for four “interarm tactical groups” (known by their French acronymn as GTIA groupement tactique interarmes), or in other words four battle groups of 1,000 men and women drawn from the infantry, the cavalry and other regiments.
The VAB (véhicule avant blindé) will be replaced by the VBMR (véhicule blindé multi-role), the AMX10RC recce tank will be replaced by the EBRC (engin blindé de reconnaissance et de contact), the Leclerc tank will be renovated and the SICS combat information system common to all these and other vehicles will be developed.
In a later, second phase of Scorpion, the Felin infantryman system will be upgraded and robots and mini-unmanned air vehicles could be integrated into the combat system.
“Scorpion will supply the materiel for these GTIAs starting in 2016,” the industrialist told me on condition I not reveal his name.
The development contract was won by a consortium of Thales/Nexter and Sagem called Mars and its job is to ensure that all this new materiel is coherent and interoperable. For example, he said, “there's not much point in Nexter engineers sitting in their design offices working on the VBMR and then discovering that their colleagues in Thales have been working on a new radio which doesn't fit the radio slot of the vehicle.”
Mars works hand in hand with program officers from the army and program managers from the DGA procurement agency which is piloting the whole enterprise.
The army was also budget-wise in putting all this new equipment under one umbrella because then the number crunchers at the finance ministry can't cut bits and pieces out. “Oh, we can't afford a new coms system so we'll cut it out.” No. Scorpion is like an aircraft carrier. You buy the whole ship or nothing. Obviously you can decide to have shared bathrooms for the crew instead of en-suite but there will be that facility whatever happens. And so it is with Scorpion.