On the occasion of the preparation of the EuroSatory exhibition, Nexter presented the EBRC prototype(Armored Reconnaissance and Combat Vehicle) Jaguar, which will replace the AMX10RC, ERC90 and VAB Mephisto in the French armies. This 6×6 light tank is equipped with a 40 CTAS turret carrying the 40mm CTC cannon, a retractable turret using 2 MMP anti-tank missiles, and a remotely operated 7,62mm machine gun.
Integrated into the SCORPION program, the jaguars exchange and receive tactical data from the digitized battlefield with the other vehicles integrated into the program: Leclerc tanks, Caesar cannon, VBCI or VMRB Griffon.
The EBRC is, in a way, a typically French armored vehicle, perfectly adapted to the French maneuver doctrine highlighted during Operation Serval for example. Unlike the Americans, British or Germans, French forces favor mobility, sometimes to the detriment of protection or firepower. Thus, while the German Puma or the American Stryker seek to strengthen their resistance to rockets and anti-tank missiles, the Jaguar is content with effective armor against small arms and artillery shrapnel.
However, if this characteristic may appear as a weakness, it turns out that the increased mobility provided by the lighter weight of the armored vehicle has often proven to be a decisive advantage in combat, whether in the Iraqi desert in 1991, the Afghan mountains or the Malian dunes.
On the other hand, these armored vehicles are likely to be vulnerable in a high-intensity environment, like the majority of French SCORPION armored vehicles with the exception of the Leclerc. It must be remembered that this program was designed while the prospects for engagement were focused around counter-insurgency combat, facing an adversary using relatively rustic, and especially light, weapons. To overcome this, the EBRC like the VBMR will have Soft kill type protection composed of threat detectors, jamming systems, decoys and smoke bombs, to which can be added if necessary Hard Kill protection, which will be able to intercept a threat (missile, shell, rocket) before impact.