For France, the VBAE is a potential replacement for the cavalry vehicle VBL in service in the French army since 1991. For Belgium, the VBAE represents a next step in the development of its motorised capability by enforcing its control, recon and commandment capacity.

The VBAE predesign contract (VBAE Stage 1) was awarded on 6th December 2023 to the industrial consortium composed of Arquus, KMW+NEXTER Defense Systems (KNDS) and John Cockrill Defense (JCD). Arquus is the coordinator of the consortium and JCD is KNDS’s subcontractor.

This predesign contract is the first step to converge on operational requirements for the complete system and on a technical architecture for this future light armoured vehicle to enable a future next phase including development , qualification, production and delivery of VBAEs to the armed forces.

The VBAE will be the results of optimisations and trade off in order to reach a vehicle affordable, supportable and with a good balance between rusticity and technology regarding the army needs.

VBAE Participating States

Main system needs: