French Army Exercise To Demonstrate Scorpion Capabilities

Jun. 28, 2012 By PIERRE TRAN  Defense News

PARIS — The French Army is due June 29 to stage an exercise, dubbed demonstration of cooperative combat, to show how a future mechanized infantry unit would work under the Scorpion program, a procurement office spokesman said.

The exercise, to be held at the urban warfare training center at the Sissonne Army base, will be presented to officials from the Defense Ministry, including the Direction Générale de l’Armement procurement office.

The French Army is anxious to maintain the Scorpion modernization program as the government gets ready to cut spending to balance the budget over the coming years. Scorpion has been estimated at 10 billion euros ($12.4 billion) over a decade.

Some 250 soldiers in a combined unit in the blue force will go up against a 70-strong red force, with some 60 armored vehicles deployed including VBCI infantry fighting vehicle, AMX10 light tank, Leclerc heavy tank, VBL scout car and PVP small vehicle.

The exercise is intended to show how technology to be developed under Scorpion can improve acquisition and the updating of information and communications among soldiers plugged into a tactical network.

Firing beyond the line of sight and a VBCI with extensive onboard electronics are among the concepts and demonstrators in the exercise.

Much of the technology has come from Nexter, Sagem and Thales.