Safran Electronics & Defense is to provide its Epsilon 10 navigation system for French army Griffon armored artillery observation vehicles.

The navigation system is part of the digital battlefield and operates in conjunction with a tactical coordination instrument to enable autonomous engagement capability in the case of a GPS signal loss, jamming or other counter-measures.

It is being provided with a system based on hemispherical resonating gyros for the artillery observation under France's Scorpion program.

"Griffon VOA artillery observation vehicles will be fitted with Safran's Paseo optronic system, comprising an inertial navigator derived from the Sigma 20 family," Safran said Monday.

"This system will give the Griffon VOA target location capability on a par with NATO's best-in-class standards."

The Griffon is a 6x6 vehicle and comes in four variants: personnel carrier, ambulance, command post and artillery observation. Nearly 1,700 Griffons are to be delivered fo the French Army between 2018 and 2033.

It is made by a consortium comprised of Nexter Systems, Renault Trucks Defense and Thales.

Supacat launches new light reconnaissance vehicles
Dunkeswell, England (UPI) Jun 13, 2016 -Engineering and design company Supacat has launched its new light reconnaissance vehicle at the Eurosatory exhibition in France.

The LRV400 Mk2 light reconnaissance vehicle is designed for special forces, border patrol or strike forces for use as a high performance off-road vehicle for rapid intervention operations.

"LRV400 Mk2 is the first reconnaissance vehicle to give the user the ability to deploy from a Chinook [helicopter] in full operational readiness," said Phil Applegarth, head of Supacat, part of the SC Group.

"Coming from the Supacat stable, LRV400 offers a scaled down version of 'Jackal' with its acclaimed all terrain tactical performance in all environments."

The LRV400 has the capability of being converted from a 4x4 configuration to a 6x6 configuration for increased payload, capacity and range, Supacat said.

Supacat's new vehicle carries a crew of three or four and has an operational capacity of more than 3,700 pounds. Its speed is as much as 100 miles per hour.

It also comes in a variety of lightweight armor solutions, weapons and communications systems, the British company said.