Belgium has authorized a €1.15 billion acquisition of 123 Serval and 92 additional Griffon armored vehicles, marking the first order of the Serval from France.

As reported by L’Echo on December 4, 2025, Belgium has decided to purchase 123 Serval armored vehicles alongside 92 additional Griffon armored vehicles for a total of €1,15 billion, marking the country’s initial procurement of the Serval. Presented during a closed parliamentary commission on military procurement on December 3, 2025, the financial distribution assigns €495,6 million to the Griffon and €656,4 million to the Serval.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link

The Serval is equipped to operate within the full Scorpion information environment, using its digital architecture to exchange real-time data with Griffon, Jaguar, and digitized infantry units in Belgian and French formations. (Picture source: French Army)

This purchase, which represents Belgium’s first acquisition of the Serval, also extends existing agreements that already include 382 Griffon vehicles, 60 Jaguar vehicles, and howitzers procured in earlier phases. The acquisition forms part of the restructuring of the Belgian Land Component into two brigades adapted to operate Scorpion-compatible systems. The new order is integrated into Belgium’s long-term motorized capability plan that aligns equipment, communication systems, and doctrinal structures with those used by the French Army. It also occurs in parallel with Belgian requests for increased industrial returns after earlier assessments identified limited economic offsets during the first two CaMo phases. These points frame the context of Belgium’s decision to expand its fleet with a new Serval component.

The CaMo program, established in 2019, is a bilateral modernization initiative aimed at renewing Belgium’s motorized capability while ensuring high levels of interoperability with France through common vehicles, shared architecture, and unified command and control tools. Belgium’s initial order included 382 Griffon multirole armored vehicles and 60 Jaguar reconnaissance and combat vehicles, followed by artillery systems such as new generation Caesar howitzers and Griffon MEPAC mortar carriers in the program’s subsequent phase. CaMo integrates Belgian units into the Scorpion environment, which uses the Scorpion Combat Information System and CONTACT radios to transmit tactical data across mixed French and Belgian formations. The program includes joint exercises, technical links between the armies, and the creation of Combined Arms Tactical SubGroups designed to operate interchangeably by 2027. The initiative extends beyond vehicles to align doctrines, training cycles, logistical systems, and maintenance infrastructure to create a consistent operational structure. Luxembourg participates in parts of the cooperation, while Ireland has examined the possibility of acquiring similar Scorpion vehicles within the same cooperative framework. These elements position CaMo as a long-term structural transformation rather than a single equipment order.

As CaMo progressed, Belgium and France expanded cooperation into new areas such as combat engineering vehicles, joint development of the VBAE armored engagement support vehicle, and agreements on industrial collaboration intended to correct earlier asymmetry identified by Belgian authorities. A financial reassessment over 25 years estimated the total cost of the CaMo framework, including acquisition, maintenance, infrastructure, ammunition, personnel, fuel, and related activities, at approximately 14,4 billion euros, significantly higher than the initial acquisition sum for the first phase. Belgium emphasized that this amount represents the cumulative cost of all foreseen investments, including new garages, structural upgrades, and long-term maintenance commitments tied to the modernization of the Land Component. After negotiations, France agreed to broaden industrial participation, with Belgian firms such as FN Herstal expanding ammunition and light weapon deliveries and John Cockerill Defense providing turret systems for French vehicles. Belgium also pursued local industrial capability development for future platforms, including the potential VBAE assembly at a Belgian site. These changes place CaMo 3 within a more balanced economic structure and link the new Griffon and Serval orders to updated industrial mechanisms.

Within the Belgian Land Component, the Serval occupies an intermediate position between heavier armored platforms and lighter protected vehicles, complementing the Griffon, Jaguar, JLTV Falcon, and the legacy Dingo fleet while filling capability gaps between these systems. The Griffon provides higher protection, greater internal volume, and heavier mission payloads for mechanized infantry, whereas the Serval offers faster deployment and reduced logistical demands for tasks that do not require a 6×6 chassis. The Jaguar, used for reconnaissance and combat roles, incorporates heavier armament and sensor suites unsuitable for the Serval’s lighter multirole profile, but both vehicles operate within the same digital architecture for coordinated actions. The JLTV Falcon, purchased for airborne and special operations, has greater mobility but lower internal capacity and a different communications baseline that limits full integration into Scorpion structures compared to the Serval. The Dingo fleet, which the Serval will partially replace, provided protected mobility but lacks the digital connectivity, modularity, and modernization potential central to Belgium’s future force design.

The Serval itself is a 4×4 light armored vehicle that could be configured as an armored patrol vehicle, a command post platform, a reconnaissance vehicle, or an air defense carrier, depending on operational requirements. With a combat weight of roughly 17 tonnes and external dimensions around 6 meters in length, 2,5 meters in width, and approximately 2,5 meters in height, the Serval can be rapidly deployed or transported by the A400M Atlas transport aircraft. Powered by a diesel engine producing up to 300 horsepower and an estimated torque output above 1,100 newton meters, coupled to an automatic transmission, it can reach a top speed of 90 km/h, an operational range between 600 and 700 kilometers, with ground clearance close to 0,35 meters and a fording depth of about 1 meter without preparation. The Serval accommodates up to 10 personnel within an armored hull designed to protect them from small arms, fragments, and explosive threats, while its internal architecture allows for the installation of communication racks, computing units, and mission electronics.

The Serval is fully integrated into the Scorpion digital network and uses the Scorpion Combat Information System and CONTACT software-defined radios to share real-time data with Griffon, Jaguar, and dismounted infantry units. This integration supports the transmission of positional information, threat data, target acquisition inputs, and command instructions across mixed formations operating under a unified architecture. The vehicle can host remote weapon stations or manually operated systems, depending on the user’s needs, typically with options for 7,62 mm or 12,7 mm machine guns or a 40 mm grenade launcher. Like the Griffon, the Serval can also incorporate electronic countermeasures, acoustic shot detection systems, and other sensors that increase situational awareness and support survivability in contested environments. The communication and electronic suites allow the Serval to operate as a node within a distributed tactical network, enabling coordinated movement, target designation, and tactical reporting between separate units. Its systems are designed to function within larger Scorpion-equipped battlegroups and maintain compatibility with air-delivered and mounted reconnaissance assets.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.