French Army Medical Service to receive 331 new medicalized armored vehicles by 2029

According to the Military Programming Law [LPM] 2019-25, the French Army will have 1,872 6×6 Griffon armored vehicles and 978 4×4 Serval by 2030, recalls Laurent Lagneau on Opex360. A certain number of these vehicles will be made available to the medical service (Service de Santé des Armées, SSA) to enable it to provide forward medical support (soutien médical de l’avant).

Currently, the SSA uses the VAB Sanitaire (VAB SAN) put into service at a time when a high-intensity conflict in Germany was one of the probable hypotheses, Laurent Lagneau comments. It was a question of quickly evacuating them to a field hospital located behind the front line. The VAB SAN has been modernized, as in 1998 with the integration of an automatic gearbox, new suspensions and additional armor. Or even with the CIED versions, which consisted in reinforcing protection against improvised explosive devices, and EVOL CIED, equipped with anti-mine seats, a new stretcher-carrying system, additional storage, etc., Laurent Lagneau details.

The development of the VAB EVOL CIED was launched in 2019 in order to await the arrival of the Griffons and Servals in a sanitary version, which will coincide with the implementation of the SSA 2030 strategic plan. In total, the SSA should have 196 Griffons and 135 Serval in the sanitary version.