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. 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. 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. At the end of 2023, the DGA ordered 420 additional
Serval vehicles as a follow-up to the first order of 364 units in 2020. This new order will enable new capabilities, notably the acquisition of the electronic warfare variant, in addition to the previous three.
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". "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.
Air defence platforms 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. 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. 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. Development of the
ARX 30 remote controlled weapons station benefitted from the work carried on the
RapidFire system by
Nexter and
Thales for the
French Navy. Unveiled at the end of 2021, this turret is designed around the
30M781 30 mm cannon arming the
Tiger attack helicopter. The system is expected to benefit from intelligent ammunition tailored for anti-UAV missions. Two programmable airburst munitions are under development, one timed and the other proximity-fired.
Nexter is also pushing for the idea of a hybrid solution, proportional to the threat and operational context. Alongside the 30 mm cannon may come the
NEROD RF anti-drone jamming rifle from French company
MC2 Technologies. There remains the central issue of target detection and tracking as the sensors to be associated with the platform are yet to be decided as of August 2023. Replacing, among others, the
PAMELA system, the
Serval Mistral will have the dual mission of providing fixed and accompanying surface-to-air defence. Two Mistral-based concepts will coexist. The first is the aforementioned
Serval SATCP subvariant within the SCORPION program and is already qualified. It is the only one operational as of 2023 and is based on dismounted Mistral stations. The other concept, soon to be "resurrected", represents the
Serval Mistral, which integrates an
ATLAS RC remotely-operated turret on the vehicle, thus granting the ability to accompany the advance and carry out fire actions while remaining on board. According to initial plans, this turret will carry "at least two" Mistral 3 missiles" in addition to defensive armament. The STAT points out that the French Army will then have no delay in setting up the battery, eliminating all that this implies in terms of vulnerability. The
Serval Mistral will carry the entire environment needed to build up complete capabilities, including an X-band radar for detection and a specific command component for deconfliction logics. ==List of variants and subvariants==