VBCI: France’s Wheeled APC

VBCI(click to view full) Many European countries are abandoning tracked APCs entirely, for good or ill, and France is joining that trend by replacing its existing tracked AMX-10Ps with the 8×8 wheeled Vehicule Blinde de Combat d’Infanterie (Armored Infantry Combat Vehicle). This 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, still depends in large measure on one of France’s age-old allies – and age-old rivals. The VBCI Vehicle Family AMX-10P: replaced(click to view full) Wheeled armored personnel carriers may have hit the spotlight in the late 1990s, but they’ve been around for much longer. South Africa and its neighbors have used wheeled APCs for many years, due to their suitability on the region’s 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 […]