CLRV (Command Liaison and Reconnaissance Vehicle) of the Luxembourg Army;
Credit: © Armée luxembourgeoise
On Friday 11 October 2024, the Luxembourg Army presented its new reconnaissance vehicle, the CLRV (Command Liaison and Reconnaissance Vehicle), at the military centre in Diekirch, in the presence of Yuriko Backes, Luxembourg's Minister of Defence, General Steve Thull, Chief of Staff of the Luxembourg Army, and Colonel Pascal Ballinger, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Luxembourg Army.
In order to modernise the existing fleet of vehicles of the Luxembourg Army, the Defence had acquired, in autumn 2022, 80 armoured command, liaison and reconnaissance vehicles (CLRV), aimed at replacing the current "HMMWV" and "PRV" (Protected Reconnaissance Vehicle) vehicles which had become obsolete.
The acquisition of these new vehicles was carried out with the support of the specialised teams of the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), which also provides logistical and technical support throughout the life cycle of the new CLRVs. A contract with the established European player Thales Belgium was concluded in October 2022, which has also committed to delivering ten vehicles by March 2025, thirty additional vehicles by October 2025 and the remaining forty vehicles by October 2026. On Friday, the first two CLRV vehicles to arrive were presented in preview to the Minister of Defence as well as to members of the press invited for this purpose.
In order for the Luxembourg Army, which specialises in reconnaissance, to continue to fulfil its missions as best as possible, investment in new vehicles had become essential, to guarantee the operational commitment of its troops, interoperability with the armed forces of allied countries and the best protection of personnel in operations.
The CLRVs will be complementary to the future Jaguar, Griffon and Serval medium combat vehicles, the bill for which was presented in May 2024. Interoperability between the CLRV and these heavier vehicles will be guaranteed, given that all these vehicles will be equipped with subsystems compatible with the French Scorpion programme.
"The CLRVs are essential to the transformation of our Army, to the continuation of its operational availability and to the subsequent implementation of the Belgian-Luxembourg binational medium combat reconnaissance battalion. These vehicles will allow us to continue contributing to collective defence and to meet our commitments within NATO and the EU for years to come,” stressed Minister of Defence Yuriko Backes.
“The CLRV programme is an excellent example of the progress made in interoperability between allied armies. As a security and defence industry, we are proud to support the Luxembourg Army in this process by ensuring the integration of vital vehicle equipment, including those that will make this interoperability possible” confirmed Alain Quevrin, CEO of Thales Belgium.
“We are proud of the trust placed in us by our host country, and this first delivery of pre-series vehicles is an important milestone in the project and highlights the fruit of our close cooperation with Luxembourg” added Zoltan Nagy, NSPA Chief of Staff.
