By Pierre Tran
LIMOGES, France – Texelisa powertrain manufacturer for armored vehicles, was working on an 18-month feasibility study for an electric hub to power hybrid diesel/electric vehicles, said Marin Tollet, director of marketing and communications.
The feasibility study extends until the end of 2025, he indicated on December 11 during a press tour consisting of the correspondent and two student journalists. The press tour included a tour of the company’s factory here in central France, about 3 1/2 hours by train from Paris. There was also a ride aboard a French Army Serval, a light armored vehicle powered by a conventional diesel engine. Texelis provides the drivetrain, or mobility package, as co-prime contractor of the vehicle, built by co-prime contractor KNDS France.
A general from the French army was due to visit the factory that week, coming from the capital.
This feasibility study showed “there is interest in the solution,” Tollet said.
The proposed solution was to install a very compact electric motor in each wheel, which made it possible to equip an armored vehicle with a smaller diesel engine. The former was seen as reducing dependence on the latter and improving performance.
This new technology could be seen as having the potential to change the concept of operations, one analyst said.
Texelis saw the shift to more electric power as a transformation in vehicle architecture, fielding combat vehicles with a lower profile and greater quietness, capable of stealth and speed.
The feasibility study focused on installing an integrated electric hub on the four-wheel drive Serval, but the technology could be adapted to other types of vehicles, Tollet said.
The Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) was to order a technological demonstrator to test the proof of concept, after submission of the study. There was also the STAT office of the French army, specializing in the study of the technological and operational needs of the army.
Texelis purchased the technology license for the electric hub drive from Qinetiq. Qinetiq was the UK partner who designed the “core electrification” for the hub drive technology. Texelis and Qinetiq have entered into a “strategic partnership” to design and build electric hub drive technology for the military armored vehicle market, the companies said in a joint statement on May 18, 2021.
Two students from the Strasbourg journalism school were on a press visit to film their documentary on European defense. Visitors were required to wear bright orange reflective vests and protective footwear after passing through security.
The 35,000-square-meter factory, which previously served as an arsenal for the French air force, was large enough to produce three to five times the current output of powertrains, Tollet said. The company delivers around 120 Serval mobility packages per year and plans to produce 160 in 2026, or even 2030, for the French army. This forecast is based on the multi-year finance law LPM 2024-2030.
After visiting the vast factory, a walk with two drivers from the French army in Serval took place in the wooded park of a large country house on the outskirts of the city. The ride and suspension were clearly intended for a combat vehicle and not a limousine.
Water was leaking from the roof of the vehicle on the right side, and a puddle extended to the driver’s side of the front compartment.
Hybrid technology
There is considerable interest in the application of hybrid technology to military vehicles, with French manufacturer Arquus developing its Scarabée, a light armored vehicle demonstrator with a diesel/electric engine.
The DGA has awarded at least three research contracts on the Scarabée, reports the specialized site Zone Militaire. These studies included the Electer project on hybrid propulsion, Optifab on high-quality armor and Numco, a predictive maintenance system.
Arquus has a factory, with a water tower bearing the company name, next to the Texelis factory.
The previous prime minister, Michel Barnier, visited the Texelis factory on November 29, accompanied by four ministers, including that of industry. Barnier resigned on December 5 after just three months in power, after opposition parties rejected his proposed 2025 budget and he lost a parliamentary vote of no confidence.
Search for export sales
Texelis, like many other French companies, was looking to sell abroad, aided by a national order.
“Serval gives them a lot of confidence,” said Marc Chassillan, specialist in military land systems. “Beyond that, they must gain from exports.”
The company sold an export version of the Serval mobility package, called Celeris.
Texelis hoped to form a direct partnership with a foreign government, Tollet said. The company worked with local industrial partners, who installed the powertrains locally.
The company saw Southeast Asia as a key region, with Indonesia being a leading domestic market.
Texelis won a contract at the end of 2023 to provide a Celeris mobility package to its Indonesian partner, PT Sentra Surya Ekajaya, or PT SSE. SSE assembled these packages into its P2 Tiger armored personnel carrier for Indonesian special forces.
These Indonesian vehicles were previously equipped with Russian-made powertrains, Tollet said. The P2 Tiger was considered an escort vehicle for the French-built Caesar truck-mounted artillery operated by the Indonesian Army.
Texelis will participate in the Indo Defense exhibition which will be held in Jakarta. This show had been postponed from November 2024 to January 2025, with a new president taking office in October.
Prabowo Subianto, a former defense minister, was sworn in as Indonesia’s president in October. Prabowo is a former general and former special forces commander. Washington had previously banned him from traveling to the United States, reflecting concerns over allegations of human rights abuses, which were unproven and which Prabowo denied, Reuters reported.
Indonesia is a critical market for France. Jakarta ordered 42 Dassault Aviation fighter jets and Rafale missiles in February 2022, as part of an arms deal worth $8.1 billion. Florence Parly, then defense minister, said on social media that Jakarta had also announced plans to order two Scorpene diesel/electric attack submarines from Naval Group, a French shipbuilder.
Jakarta’s order for 34 KNDS France Caesar 155mm 52 caliber guns dates back to 2012, in a 108 million euro deal financed by a commercial bank loan of less than five years and an interest rate less than 200 basis points. A basis point is 1/100th of a percentage point and is indexed to a reference rate such as the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR).
Jakarta ordered the Starstreak short-range surface-to-air missile from British unit Thales in 2014, for more than £100 million ($127 million).
Across the Pacific, Texelis has partnered with Inkas, the Canadian company building what it calls “special vehicles,” which include armored personnel carriers and tactical armored vehicles.
It was rare for a European company to be a supplier in North America, Tollet said.
Towards tracked vehicles
The French company expanded into supplying transmissions for tracked vehicles, partnering with Milrem Robotics, an Estonian manufacturer of unmanned vehicles.
Milrem has chosen Texelis as a “strategic supplier” of mobility subsystems for the development of a new generation of robotic combat vehicles (RCV), the Tallinn-based company said in a November 21 statement.
“Texelis will provide Milrem Robotics with a state-of-the-art tank electrified drivetrain to help it create highly capable, modular robotic platforms weighing over 12 tonnes, designed to meet the demands of modern warfare,” the Estonian company said .
Texelis is the joint project manager with KNDS France, formerly Nexter, of the Serval, a light version of the VBMR Griffon, a heavy multirole armored vehicle. There will be approximately 35 versions of the Serval. The Serval and the Griffin will replace the venerable VAB, an armored personnel carrier with around forty years of service.
The Griffon, the Jaguar combat and reconnaissance vehicle, the Serval communications network and SICS are the main elements of the French army’s Scorpion modernization program. There is also the MEPC, a 120mm mortar version of the Griffon.
Staff sought
The company employed around 350 people with extensive experience.
The company recently recruited a young woman for sales and marketing, including sourcing leads for export prospects. The new recruit had just graduated from a Parisian university and had completed a master’s thesis of around forty pages on the difficulties of small and medium-sized businesses in the arms sector. She continued her studies alongside an internship at Arquus and, thanks to the graduate network, she applied for a position at Texelis.
There was also a 40-year-old man who worked as a mechanic and who had helped write the Serval’s maintenance manual. He joined the company, which was then part of the Renault Trucks group, around twenty years ago, after leaving secondary school with few academic results. The mechanic, who had worked in both the civil and military sectors of the company, answered phone calls from service members needing help on the Serval.
Texelis invested 1.4 million euros ($1.5 million) in the Limoges factory last year and would spend another 2.1 million euros over 2024-2025, the company said. This investment included scanning and 3D production. The company recruited 25 employees this year.
The mid-sized company plans to increase its turnover in 2024 to 120 million euros, up 10 million euros compared to 2023.
The private company supplies the Serval powertrain, or mobility package, which includes a Cummins engine, Allison gearbox, Michelin tires, suspension and axles.
Texelis ships the packages to Roanne, in central France, where KNDS France assembles the VBMR-L armored vehicle. The Roanne factory also assembles the Griffon and the Jaguar, and ships the three vehicles to the DGA, which sends them to the army.
The KNDS factory in Roanne has around twenty Texelis employees.
Texelis has an office in Lyon, considered a transport hub for Paris. Limoges also has a small regional airport, considered convenient for the French army’s TBM light turboprop aircraft.
The Serval program should create more than 600 jobs by 2025, the Ministry of the Armed Forces said on March 7.
For an earlier story on Texelis, see the following:
A glance at Texelis: French manufacturer of mobility packages for armored vehicles