The French Armed Forces have displayed newest VBMR Griffon multi-role armoured vehicle, as part of «1917-2017: 100 ans de technologie» show during Bastille Day 2017 military parade.
The new-generation Griffon 6×6 multi-role armoured vehicles (VBMR) are being acquired by the French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA) to replace the ageing fleet of Véhicule de l’Avant Blindé (VAB) 4×4 armoured personnel carriers, which have been operational with the French Army since 1976.
The Griffon vehicle is based on a 6×6 commercial all-terrain truck chassis and will carry up to eight infantry soldiers. Currently six versions of the Griffon are planned, with four of these (Armored Personnel Carrier, Command Post, Ambulance, and Artillery Observer) ordered in the first tranche.
The Griffon is equipped with a remote weapons station that can be armed with either a 12.7mm or 7.62mm machine gun, or a 40mm automatic grenade launcher.
On 6 December 2014, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced that deliveries will commence in 2018 and the first tranche of 319 Griffons was ordered in April 2017. In total the French Army wants to buy 1,722 VBMR 6×6 Griffon. Also, On 22 June 2017, Belgium’s cabinet approved a plan to purchase 60 “Jaguar” and 417 “Griffon” vehicles for €1.1 billion.
The 14th of July is an important date in the French calendar and thousands of French troops were parade down the Champs-Élysées in a dramatic show of pageantry to mark the storming of the Bastille military prison in 1789, a turning point in the French Revolution.
