128th GRIFFON Delivered: JAGUAR Deliveries to Begin in April
Nexter, Thales and Arquus delivered the last of 2020’s required total of 128 GRIFFON armoured vehicles to the French government on 18 December. Under the terms of the SCORPION programme, and despite an unprecedented health crisis that profoundly affected production, the three manufacturers were able to overcome the challenges and meet their contractual obligations.
To date, 90 GRIFFONS have been accepted by the French Army, in addition to the 92 delivered in 2019. Given a degree of catchup required due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the programme will be back on schedule very early in 2021, the companies announced on 23 December. Moving to a two shift working schedule at the Roanne manufacturing facility and in close cooperation with the supply chain, the three manufacturers have managed to maintain the original 2020 objectives for GRIFFON deliveries and to reassert the schedule for the JAGUAR by the end of 2021, although the initial deliveries have been postponed to April.
2020 has seen a number of milestones for the programme: the DGA placed the third tranche order in September, enabling the second batch of vehicles (271 GRIFFON and 42 JAGUAR by 2023) to enter production; the GRIFFON command post vehicle was qualified in November; and the T1 remotely-operated turret for the GRIFFON was also qualified.