Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé

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VAB
General characteristics
Crew	2 + 10 troops
Length	5.98 m
Width	2.49 m
Height	2.06 m
Weight	13 tonnes
Armour and armament
Armour	?
Main armament	1×12.7 mm machine gun
Secondary armament	-
Mobility
Power plant	Renault MIDR 062045 300 hp (224 kW)
Suspension	wheeled
Road speed	92 km/h
Power/weight	23 hp/t
Range	1000 km

The Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé or VAB ("Armoured Vanguard Vehicle" in French) is an armoured personnel carrier manufactured by the Euro Mobilité Division of GIAT Industries of France. It entered service in 1976 and around 5000 were produced. They are amphibious (propelled in the water by two water jets mounted one either side of hull rear), NBC-proof, have excellent off-road capabilities, and can be configured in numerous versions. Modern versions of the VAB have had more than 1000 improvements compared to the initial version.

Contents 1 Combat history 2 Operators 3 Variants 3.1 Medical evacuation version 4 Trivia 5 Reference 6 External links

[edit] Combat history

VABs have been deployed in virtually all theatres where French infantry troops were present, notably Kuwait, the Ivory Coast, Yugoslavia. VABs belonging to the Royal Moroccan Army ( FAR ) have seen heavy combat during the conflict with Polisario rebels of the Western Sahara.

[edit] Operators

• France
• Brunei
• Central African Republic
• Cyprus
• Indonesia: Army Corps / TNI-AD using 46 VAB (32 ex-France's VAB purchased in 2006) for Indonesia's Mechanical Batalyon in UNIFIL mission in Lebanon.
• Ivory Coast
• Kuwait
• Lebanon
• Mauritius
• Mexico
• Morocco
• Oman
• Qatar
• United Arab Emirates
• Italy (NBC configuration)

[edit] Variants

Variants may be 4x4 or 6x6 wheels. The French military has 4-wheel versions, with the Engineers Corp (Génie) having 6-wheels versions with enhanced amphibious capabilities.

• armoured personnel carrier
• anti-tank missile launcher (HOT missiles)
• 12.7 mm turret.
• 20 mm turret.

The French Gendarmerie also uses a variant of the VAB called VBRG (Véhicule Blindé de Reconnaissance de la Gendarmerie) for riot control. This version may be equipped with a water cannon and/or a bulldozer blade.

[edit] Medical evacuation version

Medical evacuation version

Inside view of the medical evacuation version

[edit] Trivia

• Two Moroccan VABs were featured in the James Bond movie The Living Daylights.
• The Moroccan VAB 6x6, in UN colours featured in the movie Black Hawk Down.
• In Spriggan, the ARCAM Defense Unit has a unit of VABs stationed at their Turkish research center in Mount Ararat.
• Standard APC of the Baltic army in Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid. ^[1]

[edit] Reference

[edit] External links

• Description at Army-Technology.com
• VAB Description at army-guide.com
• .chars-francais.net

Modern French armoured fighting vehicles
Tanks & Armoured Cars Leclerc | AMX 30 | ERC-90 Sagaie | AMX 10 RC | VBC-90
Armoured personnel carriers VAB | Panhard AML | VBL | AMX-10P | VBCI
Artillery LRM | AMX 30 AuF1 | CAESAR
French armoured fighting vehicles