VBCI: France’s Wheeled APC
Related Stories: Britain/U.K., Contracts - Awards, Design Innovations, Europe - France, FOCUS Articles, Lobbying, New Systems Tech, Other Corporation, Partnerships & Consortia, Tanks & Mechanized, Thales
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South Africa and its neighbors have used wheeled APCs for many years, due to their suitability on the hard-packed grassland terrain. France’s Foreign Legion and Army has had their VAB wheeled APC since the late 1970s, and successfully exported it to 14 other countries. The US Marines gave Swiss firm MOWAG’s wheeled armored personnel carriers a big boost at about the same time, by selecting its Piranha for their amphibious Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) family. Interest really took off in the 1990s, however, as US General Shinseki and many European countries made a strong push to displace tracked APCs with wheeled alternatives in many land armies. The limitations of wheeled APCs have been made glaringly apparent on the front lines in Afghanistan, but their usefulness in scenarios where heavy mileage is required and protecting roads is part of the mission set has also been demonstrated on the front lines.
Many European countries are abandoning tracked APCs entirely, for good or ill, and France is joining that trend by replacing its existing AMX-10Ps with the Vehicule Blindé de Combat d’Infanterie (Armored Infantry Combat Vehicle). This DID FOCUS article looks at the VBCI platform, discusses the program and export opportunities, and follows associated contracts & key events.
France’s orders give it a strong base, and an additional order has just come in from that quarter. Still, the VBCI is arriving late to the competitive game. Whether it ends up being fashionably late, or just too late, depends in large measure on one of France’s age-old allies – and age-old rivals. The most recent developments include a large performance-based maintenance contract for the French fleet…
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