In October 2018, having expressed his intention to join the French Scorpion program [Synergie du contact renforcée par la polyvalence et l’infovalorisation] and acquire 382 Multitliles armored vehicles [VMBR] “Griffon” and 60 armored recognition and combat devices [EBRC] “Jaguar” for 1.5 billion euros, Belgium Noua with France The strategic partnership “Motorized capacity” [CaMo].
Thus, the objective was to arrive at a “complete” interoperability between the army and the terrestrial component of the Belgian defense, their units having to be “interchangeable”. Beyond the capacity aspect, it was a question of converging the rules of engagement, the doctrines of employment, the training and the operational preparation between the two forces.
Then, this partnership took another magnitude with “Camo 2”, this second part of the Franco-Belgian partnership to extend to artillery, with the acquisition by Brussels of trucks equipped with a new generation artillery system [CAESAr NG] and Griffon Mepac [Mortiers embarqués pour l’appui au contact].
In March 2024, during the Defense and Strategy Forum organized in Paris, General Pierre Schill, the chief of staff of the Army [CEMAT]had described the Camo partnership as a “model to follow for our future European cooperation, at a time when the need for partnerships capable of producing field effects is asserting itself”. And to estimate that it “should even make a stain of oil on the continent”. Besides, Luxembourg has since joined it.
As for the industrial component, KNDS France appointed the Mol group to assemble the Griffon intended for the Belgian terrestrial force. A factory was thus inaugurated in Staden [Flandre-Occidentale]in April 2024.
Everything would be best if the camo partnership had not been the subject of a vitriol report written by the Belgian Court of Auditors and including the Flemish broadcasting organization [VRT – Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie] Published the good sheets, although it is confidential.
Thus, according to this document, the costs of purchasing and operating the Griffon and Jaguar intended for the Belgian terrestrial force would have been poorly evaluated, which must be ten times higher compared to what had been planned. Indeed, it argues that if we add maintenance expenses and investments for infrastructure to the initial bill of 1.5 billion euros, the Camo program would reach 14.4 billion euros.
“If a series of fees have been taken into account, others have been forgotten, such as the need to renovate or build garages in many barracks to store new equipment. Thus, in Léopoldsbourg and Marche-en-Famenne, this work will cost 230 million. In the future East Flanders barracks still to build, the bill will be there 225 million. In Charleroi, it will be necessary to pay an additional 216 million euros, ”says the VRT.
As for maintenance in operational condition [MCO]it is a question of an annual cost of 60 million euros for 25 years. Or 1.6 billion euros. Or “an amount almost equivalent to the initial purchase price”, notes the Belgian Court of Auditors.
This also underlines that the Belgian defense will have to obtain spare parts and certain ammunition “at the prices imposed” by the French supplier. The latter being confidential, “it is impossible to verify whether comparable prices are applied to Belgium,” she denounces.
Hence her criticisms of the defense purchasing service, which she accused of having “conducted any formal risk analysis, […] In particular with regard to the control of prices related to the purchase of equipment, spare parts and ammunition from the French supplier ”. As for the ministry, she accuses him of having “forgotten” for demanding more guarantees on the economic benefits of this program, while these are supposed to amount to 910 million euros.
The “flight” of this report prompted several political parties – in particular those of the opposition – to take up this case. Thus, environmentalists [Groen] and open Flemish liberals and democrats [Open-VLD] Asked the holding, in an emergency, of a debate in Parliament.
“At a time when we are looking for additional billions to reach the NATO investment standard, the extent of the skid in this file is properly absurd. Parliament must be able to play its role of control, ”argue the Flemish liberals.
In a press release, the Belgian defense said it was ready to explain the parliamentarians … but only after the publication of the final report of the Court of Auditors. In the meantime, she recalled that the sum of 1.5 billion euros only concerns the purchase of the Griffon and the Jaguar and that it had been taken into account their operating cost.
“Subsequent expenditure for other types of vehicles” in the CAMO program as well as for ammunition, fuel, maintenance and infrastructure bring the total estimate to 14.4 billion euros, as indicated by the Court of Auditors. This amount therefore covers more than the purchase of the first batch of vehicles. It is calculated on all the investments provided for by the 2016 strategic vision […] for motorized capacity. It includes all additional costs over a period of 25 years. These expenses are integrated into the multi-year defense budget planning, ”she concluded, according to Libre Belgique.
