AMX-10P

AMX-10P

AMX-10P at the Musée des Blindés, Saumur.
Type Infantry fighting vehicle
Place of origin France
Service history
Used by See Operators
Wars Iran-Iraq War
Gulf War
Bosnian War
Iraqi Civil War (2014–present)
Production history
Designed 1968[1]
Manufacturer GIAT Industries[2]
Produced 1973 – 1994[3]
No. built 1,750[3]
Variants See Variants
Specifications
Weight 14.2 tonnes (15.7 short tons; 14.0 long tons)[4]
Length 5.778 m (18 ft 11.5 in)[1]
Width 2.78 m (9 ft 1 in)[1]
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) (hull)[1]
Crew 3 (commander, gunner, driver) + 8 passengers[1]
Main
armament
 20mm F2/M693 autocannon (800 rounds)[1]
Secondary
armament
 7.62 mm MAS coaxial machine gun (2,000 rounds)[4]
Engine Hispano-Suiza Model 115-2 eight-cylinder liquid-cooled diesel[1]
276 hp (205 kW) at 3,000 rpm[1]
Power/weight 20 hp/tonne (14.9 kW/tonne)[1]
Ground clearance 0.45m[4]
Fuel capacity 528 litres[4]
Operational
range
 600 km[4]
Speed 65 km/h (40 mph)[4]

The AMX-10P is a French amphibious infantry fighting vehicle. It was developed after 1965 to replace the AMX-VCI in service with the mechanized regiments of the French Army; the first prototypes were completed in 1968.[4] Production commenced between 1972 and 1973.[1]

The AMX-10P is fully amphibious, being propelled through water at speeds of up to 7 km/h by twin waterjets. It is also fitted as standard with a trim vane and bilge pumps to assist with the flotation process.[2] AMX-10Ps were popular with a number of Arab armies and have been operated by Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.[2] Special marine variants were also developed for Singapore and Indonesia, including a fire support model known as the AMX-10 PAC 90, which mated the AMX-10P chassis to the complete turret and 90mm gun assembly of the Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie.[3][4]

AMX-10Ps share a number of common transmission and chassis components with their armoured car counterpart, the AMX-10RC.[1]

Development history

The AMX-10P was developed by the Atelier de Construction d'lssy-les-Moulineaux (AMX) in response to a French army requirement for a new tracked armoured fighting vehicle to supplement or replace the ageing AMX-VCI.[4] The first prototypes were completed around 1968 and showcased to potential domestic and international customers at Satory the following year.[1] Production did not commence on the vehicle until the French Army placed its first order in late 1972.[1] The first AMX-10Ps were delivered in mid to late 1973 to the 7th Mechanised Brigade stationed at Reims.[1] French Army AMX-10Ps were fitted with a 20mm autocannon in a Toucan II two-man turret with seating for a gunner and commander; however, a number of other one-man turrets could be fitted, as well as an observation cupola for training vehicles.[4] Export variants of the AMX-10P also abounded, including models equipped with battlefield surveillance radars, the ATILA artillery fire control system, a bank of HOT anti-tank missiles, 60mm or 81mm gun-mortars, and a large 90mm gun.[4]

Greece was the first foreign power to purchase the AMX-10P; between 1974 and 1977 the Hellenic Army ordered over a hundred individual vehicles from France, in three separate variants.[5] Qatar followed up with an order for thirty AMX-10Ps in 1975, while Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia also accounted for large export orders during the early 1980s.[5] GIAT Industries accepted a final order from Singapore for AMX-10P PAC-90s in 1994;[5] following their delivery production lines for the AMX-10P were finally closed.[3] At this point 1,750 AMX-10Ps had been manufactured.[3]

Approximately 108 AMX-10Ps remaining in service with the French Army underwent extensive overhauls to improve their armour and mobility between 2006 and 2008, including new gearboxes and suspension systems.[6] They are gradually being retired and replaced by the wheeled Véhicule Blindé de Combat d'Infanterie.[7]

Description

AMX-10P hulls are fabricated from a welded steel[1] or aluminum alloy[2] and notable for their parallel incorporation of the driving and engine compartments. The driver is seated at the front of the vehicle and to the left.[1] An AMX-10P's driving compartment is provided with a single hatch cover opening to the rear and three periscopes intended for observation purposes when the hatch is closed.[1] Night vision equipment was not fitted as standard to the base production model; however, one of the three driving periscopes could be replaced with combined day/night intensification sights as needed.[1] The troop compartment is at the rear of the hull and provided with two roof hatches. Passengers embark and debark from a ramp, which is accessed through two doors at the rear.[1]

Transmission consists of a hydraulic torque converter coupled to a gearbox with one reverse and four forward driving gears.[1] The AMX-10P utilises a torsion bar suspension, which supports five road wheels with the drive sprocket at the rear and idler near the front.[1] These can be accessed from inside the hull through maintenance panels.[1]

Standard AMX-10P turrets are equipped with a GIAT M693 automatic cannon firing two different types of both high explosive ammunition and armour-piercing ammunition.[1] More than one ammunition type may be loaded at once and fired alternatively.[8] The high explosive rounds have a muzzle velocity of 1,050 m/s, while the latest armour-piercing round has a muzzle velocity of 1,300 m/s and is capable of penetrating 20mm of rolled homogeneous armour at an incidence of 60°.[1] The autocannon has a cyclic rate of fire of 740 rounds per minute, with the gunner being able to switch between semiautomatic, limited burst, or fully automatic fire as necessary.[8]

External

AMX-10Ps have a very distinctive, pointed hull and a sloping glacis plate, with the driver's position plainly visible to the left.[2] The hull roof is horizontal as well as sloped slightly inwards, accommodating a turret ring near the centre of the chassis.[2] Both hull sides are vertical and lack firing ports.[2] There is a circular exhaust outlet on the right side of the hull above the second and third road wheels.[2]

Variants

A Singapore Army AMX-10P PAC-90 with 90mm gun

Operators

This section is about operators of the AMX-10P tracked infantry fighting vehicle and its engineering and recovery variants. For operators of the wheeled armoured car derivative, see AMX-10RC.

Map of AMX-10P operators in blue, with former operators in red.

Former operators

See also

AMX series

Vehicles of comparable role, performance, and era

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Christopher F. Foss. Jane's World Armoured Fighting Vehicles (1976 ed.). Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd. pp. 213–216. ISBN 0-354-01022-0.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Christopher F. Foss. Jane's Tanks and Combat Vehicles Recognition Guide (2000 ed.). Harper Collins Publishers. pp. 142–145. ISBN 978-0-00-472452-2.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 O'Malley, T.J. (1996). Fighting Vehicles: Armoured Personnel Carriers & Infantry Fighting Vehicles. Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books. pp. 322–342. ISBN 978-1853672118.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Chant, Christopher (1987). A Compendium of Armaments and Military Hardware. New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 44–45. ISBN 0-7102-0720-4. OCLC 14965544.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Trade Registers". Armstrade.sipri.org. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
  6. 1 2 "France to Upgrade 108 AMX-10P APCs". Retrieved 2007-11-27.
  7. ↑ Présentation de la formation "VBCI" au 35e régiment d'infanterie.
  8. 1 2 Pretty, Ronald. Jane's Weapon Systems, 1979–80 (1979 ed.). Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd. pp. 312–731. ISBN 978-0-531-03299-2.
  9. ↑ Iraqi engineers have refurbished AMX-10P and Panhard vehicles
  10. ↑ Nerguizian, Aram; Cordesman, Anthony (2009). The North African Military Balance: Force Developments in the Maghreb. Washington DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies Press. pp. 27–28. ISBN 978-089206-552-3.
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