IDEX 2025: John Cockerill showcases stealth recon vehicle, but is Nimr partnership over?

This is not the first time i-X has appeared at the show. At IDEX 2023, JCD signed a strategic teaming agreement with Nimr of Abu Dhabi to jointly explore opportunities for development and marketing of the fast reconnaissance vehicle, but this week there was no sign this tie-up had progressed any further.

This is most likely due to the fact that JCD has now taken over French company Arquus, previously Renault Trucks Defense.

The first i-X has already completed a series of firing and mobility trials in Belgium and France fitted with a JCD retractable weapon station armed with a 25mm Bushmaster chain gun and 7.62mm coaxial machine gun (MG).

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The vehicle seen at this year's IDEX is conventionally powered, but future examples will differ, according to the company. 

“The vehicle is capable of very high speeds both on and off road using its thermal or thermal electric drive. In addition it also features adaptive camouflage and integrates multi-sensor fusion technology,” JCD said. 

Technology from the i-X and Arquus Scarabee 4x4 will be fed into the French Army's Vehicule Blinde Leger (VBL) replacement programme.

This new 4x4 procurement, Vehicule Blinde d’Aide a Engagement (VBAE), is run by OCCAR as a joint Belgian/French effort with the contract for pre-design work signed in December 2023.

Scarabee was developed as a private venture by Arquus and features hybrid-electric drive (HED), four-wheel steering and sliding doors either side for rapid exit of the crew of three.

When finally deployed by the French Army, the VBAE will be one of the last wheeled elements of major Scorpion programme to be fielded, with final element being an engineer vehicle which will probably be an 8x8 and replace the current platform based on an AMX-30 tracked chassis.

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Related Programmes in Defence Insight

VBAE (Belgium)

VBAE

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Scarabee

Cockerill i-X