Cyprus National Guard: officers at the French Cavalry School for the EBRC Jaguar – next stop the RICM

Armoured officers of the Cyprus National Guard visited the French Army’s Cavalry School (École de cavalerie) at Saumur, where they were briefed on the training programmes and simulators of the EBRC Jaguar reconnaissance and combat vehicle that Cyprus wants to acquire. According to the school’s announcement, the visit of the Cypriot officers shows the richness of international cooperation and “bears witness to the reach and recognition of the school’s innovative approach”.

The discussions concerned the Jaguar’s new simulation tools, chiefly the STG (Simulateur transitoire générique), which the school describes as “a unique system in service at this moment” and which “shows the school’s ability to accompany the transformation of the Cavalry in practice”.

The Cypriot delegation then visited the Marine Infantry-Tank Regiment (RICM) of the French Army, so that “the link is made between the innovation developed at the school, the training of personnel and its application in the units”. The Saumur school is the centre where the French Army’s armour and cavalry personnel are trained, and it is gradually moving to the Jaguar, which replaces the older AMX-10RC and ERC-90 Sagaie wheeled vehicles.

What Cyprus is buying from France

The visit strengthens the indications that Nicosia is considering the Jaguar. The National Guard has already ordered Sherpa vehicles and Akeron MP anti-tank missiles from France, and since March it has been in advanced contacts with France over Griffon and Serval armoured vehicles of the French SCORPION programme, funded through the European SAFE mechanism. The number of Jaguars Cyprus could request has not been made public. In any case, the French vehicle is not a main battle tank, and the National Guard continues to look for new tanks to replace its T-80U and AMX-30B2, a subject we covered in the analysis of the Merkava Mk4 option.

The KNDS France EBRC Jaguar is a six-wheeled armoured vehicle of about 25 tonnes with a crew of three. It carries a 40 mm CTA cannon with telescoped ammunition, two Akeron MP anti-tank missiles and a remote weapon station with a 7.62 mm machine gun. Its mission is reconnaissance, cover and fire support for mechanised units, and it is linked with the other SCORPION vehicles through a common battle-information system.

Besides the French Army, Belgium and Luxembourg have ordered it, with Luxembourg ordering 38 vehicles in December and sending a delegation this week for training at the Suippes camp. Ireland has also expressed interest and plans to join SCORPION. Legionnaires of the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment showed the vehicle to allies in Norway during exercise Cold Response 26 in March.