Development
The two SCORPION vehicles that preceded the Serval facilitated the latter's rapid development, which only took 3 years, as well as its average cost of acquisition of just €1.2 million per vehicle (FY2021); as is the case with the Griffon, this is much less than such a vehicle would've cost had it been developed as a stand-alone project.[9] Like the Griffon, the Serval can embark a combat group of up to 10 men and integrates the same equipment, in particular the vetronics, threat detectors and SICS combat information system, enabling it to be integrated into the SCORPION collaborative combat network. In its base VPB variant, it is equipped with either a remotely-operated gyro-stabilized T2 Hornet Lite turret armed with a 7.62 mm machine gun or the T1 Hornet armed with either a 7.62 mm or 12.7 mm machine gun. Both turrets are also fitted with the GALIX countermeasure system.[10]
According to Nexter, the Serval's dimensions enable it to be easily deployed in external theaters, since an A400M can carry 2 Serval in combat order, in comparison to just 1 Griffon or Jaguar. In May 2022, the first 4 units were delivered to the French Army and 189 units by the end of 2023.[8]
Configurations
The Serval under the SCORPION programme will be available in four main variants: VPB (armored patrol vehicle), SA2R (surveillance-target acquisition-intelligence-reconnaissance), NCT (tactical communications node) and GE (electronic warfare).[4] The Serval VPB, the most common variant, will consist of up to 10 subvariants, most of them comparable to those adopted for the Griffon VTT family: Infanterie (light infantry carrier, notably airborne and mountain infantry), MMP (medium-range missile), EPC (command post), OA (artillery observation), MO81 (81 mm dismounted mortar), MO120 (120 mm towed mortar), GEN (combat engineering), SAN (medical evacuation), RAV (refuelling) and SATCP (dismounted Mistral 3 very short-range surface-to-air missile system).[8]
The Serval SA2R consists of intelligence processing (Serval TDR) and acquisition (Serval ACQ) subvariants. The latter carries a Thales MURIN ground observation radar and additionally integrates an electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) system.[8] As for the Serval NCT, it is indicative of the efforts made to bring the theater network under armour and make it mobile. It will be based on four subvariants whose specificity will be to be able to communicate whether static (on-the-pause / OTP) or on the move (on-the-move / OTM).[8]
VLTP-P segment haut programme
Identical to the Serval being delivered to the SCORPION units, the vehicles to be acquired under the Véhicule Léger Tactique Polyvalent Protégé segment haut (English: Multi-purpose light tactical vehicles - protected high segment) programme are intended to equip "combat and support units in contact with the SCORPION environment".[13]
"Already available, already qualified, already tried and tested in more ways than one", according to the French Army's Technical Section (STAT), the Serval has been chosen to form the "high protected" segment of the VLTP range of vehicles. It will be replacing various types of unarmoured vehicles among support regiments at brigade, division or joint level. While the common aim is to modernize and standardize, the SCORPION and VLTP P segment haut each retain their own timetable and budget. The first units of the 1,060 Serval VLTP-P vehicles (10 Serval PC ATLAS for the artillery) are expected to be delivered in 2025.[14]
Of all the applications envisaged for the Serval, surface-to-air defence and anti-drone warfare are the latest introduced; functions anticipated by the French Army to fill the gap left by its current patchwork of specialized equipment but finally brought to the fore by the 2024-2030 LPM. The latter calls for the entry into service of 12 counter-UAV (Serval LAD) and 24 very short-range air defence (Serval Mistral) systems by 2030, as well as "at least" 40 and 45 systems respectively by 2035. In the absence of clearly defined requirements as of 2023 for the Serval LAD, the team led by Nexter is working on several concepts. Weapon systems under consideration for its armament range from 40 mm automatic grenade launchers to 30 mm autocannons.[15][16] Two paths are envisaged; one based on several carriers and the other on an "all-in-one" solution. The former would have the merit of carrying more powerful sensors, like an X-band radar capable of detecting threats several tens of kilometers away, discriminating appropriately and anticipating more accurately. This proposal implies a solution on the "heavy" side, which will depend on robust communications. Some have deemed the equation rather antithetical to high-intensity warfare, which means maintaining combat capability with disrupted, degraded or possibly even destroyed resources.[17] Complex and costly, this concept seems to be disappearing in favor of a single vehicle capable of acting autonomously to compensate for any failure in the chain of command, a prime target for an adversary on equal terms. The Serval equipped with a ARX 30 remotely-operated turret, which was unveiled by Nexter in 2022 as a scale model, is thus increasingly considered the likely solution to be adopted.
