VBL
Encyclopedia
The Panhard
Véhicule Blindé Léger ("Light armoured vehicle") is a wheeled 4x4
all-terrain vehicle
offered in various configurations. It was designed to combine the agility of the Peugeot
VLTT
liaison vehicle with adequate protection against small arms
fire, artillery fragments, mines
and NBC weapons. The VBL is fully amphibious
and can swim at 5.4 km/h; it is also air transportable by C-130, C-160
and A400M.
The VBL was developed during the 1980s and entered operational service in France
in 1990. It has a fuel consumption of 16 litres per 100 km.
, Somalia
and Kosovo
.
Due to the contribution of the French Army to the Blue Helmets in Yugoslavia, the VBL was one of the ubiquitous sights in the Siege of Sarajevo
, earning it the nickname of "Sarajevo Taxi".
Export versions
Note that the reconnaissance
version is equipped with TR-VP 213 or PR4G radio
, OB 41 and OB 43 night vision goggles and DUK-DUR 440 radiation meter and a dosimeter
.
Panhard
Panhard is currently a French manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its current incarnation was formed by the acquisition of Panhard by Auverland in 2005. Panhard had been under Citroën ownership, then PSA , for 40 years...
Véhicule Blindé Léger ("Light armoured vehicle") is a wheeled 4x4
Four Wheel Drive
The Four Wheel Drive Auto Company, more often known as Four Wheel Drive or just FWD, was founded in 1909 in Clintonville, Wisconsin, as the Badger Four-Wheel Drive Auto Company by Otto Zachow and William Besserdich.-History:...
all-terrain vehicle
All-terrain vehicle
An all-terrain vehicle , also known as a quad, quad bike, three wheeler, or four wheeler, is defined by the American National Standards Institute as a vehicle that travels on low pressure tires, with a seat that is straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control...
offered in various configurations. It was designed to combine the agility of the Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
VLTT
Peugeot P4
The P4 is an unarmoured off-road vehicle used by the military of France. It was manufactured by Peugeot but is now manufactured by Panhard. It is to be replaced with the PVP by Panhard. The P4 is a militarised Mercedes Geländewagen marketed by Peugeot for the French military...
liaison vehicle with adequate protection against small arms
Small arms
Small arms is a term of art used by armed forces to denote infantry weapons an individual soldier may carry. The description is usually limited to revolvers, pistols, submachine guns, carbines, assault rifles, battle rifles, multiple barrel firearms, sniper rifles, squad automatic weapons, light...
fire, artillery fragments, mines
Land mine
A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
and NBC weapons. The VBL is fully amphibious
Amphibious vehicle
An amphibious vehicle , is a vehicle or craft, that is a means of transport, viable on land as well as on water – just like an amphibian....
and can swim at 5.4 km/h; it is also air transportable by C-130, C-160
Transall C-160
|-See also:-References:* Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1982-83. London:Jane's Yearbooks, 1982. ISBN 0-7106-0748-2.-External links:*...
and A400M.
The VBL was developed during the 1980s and entered operational service in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1990. It has a fuel consumption of 16 litres per 100 km.
Combat experience
The VBL has been used in many peacekeeping operations, notably in BosniaBosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
and Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
.
Due to the contribution of the French Army to the Blue Helmets in Yugoslavia, the VBL was one of the ubiquitous sights in the Siege of Sarajevo
Siege of Sarajevo
The Siege of Sarajevo is the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare. Serb forces of the Republika Srpska and the Yugoslav People's Army besieged Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996 during the Bosnian War.After Bosnia...
, earning it the nickname of "Sarajevo Taxi".
Variants
French versions- VBL MILAN: Anti-tank medium range (up to 2000 metres) combat. Uses one MILANMILANMILAN " is French and German for "kite bird") is a European anti-tank guided missile. Design of the MILAN started in 1962. It was ready for trials in 1971, and was accepted for service in 1972. It is a wire guided SACLOS missile, which means the sight of the launch unit has to be aimed at the...
missile fire unit and six missiles, with a MIRA Thermal camera. - VBL ERYX: Anti-tank short range (up to 600 metres) combat. Uses one ERYXERYXERYX is a short-range portable SACLOS-based wire-guided anti-tank missile produced by European company MBDA. It is used by several countries, including the Canadian Army, French, and Norwegian armies. The weapon can also be used against bunkers and pillboxes. It also has some capability in the...
missile fire unit and four missiles, as well as MIRABEL thermal goggles. Its secondary weapon is a ring-mount fitted with a 7.62 mm machine gun (1400 rounds). - VB2L POSTE DE COMMANDEMENT: Command version. It operates a VHF system with two PR4G radios, a HF System with one SSB radio for long range and a Radio/intercom system for the crew. Its armament is a ring-mount fitted with a 7.62 mm machine gun (1400 rounds). Specific equipment: A work station with map board and folding table, additional batteries to meet the requirements of the radio and auxiliary services giving up to 8 hours additional endurance, and a folding seat for 4th crew member.
- VBL RECO 12.7: Reconnaissance and troops engagement. Operates 1 VHF transmitter/receiver (French version), radio/intercom system and one M2 machine gunM2 Machine GunThe M2 Machine Gun, Browning .50 Caliber Machine Gun, is a heavy machine gun designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. It is very similar in design to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, which was chambered for the .30-06 cartridge...
on ring-mount protected by side armour. Optional equipment : multiple launcher for anti-personnel grenades FLY-K (PL 127) - Rate of fire : 375 rounds/minute - muzzle velocity: 244 m/s, Effective range : against an area: 2200 m; against point target: 1500 m, Fragmentation effect : 15 m - armour penetration: 50 mm. - VBL AT4CS: Anti-tank very short range (<250 metres). Operates 1 or 2 VHF transmitter/receivers, radio/intercom system, and a x 84 mm AT4CS munitions in ready-use configuration capable of penetrating 550 mm of armour (armoured vehicles without additional protection) or 1.5 m of concrete. Usable dismounted or in confined spaces). Secondary weapon: One ring-mount fitted with a 7.62 mm machine gun (1400 rounds).
Export versions
- ULTRAV M11: NBC (Nuclear Biological Chemical) reconnaissance version for the US Army
- VBL TOW: Anti-tank long range (up to 3750 metres). Radio equipment: 1 or 2 VHF transmitter/receivers. Armament: One infantry-type single TOWBGM-71 TOWThe BGM-71 TOW is an anti-tank missile. "BGM" is a weapon classification that stands for "Multiple Environment , Surface-Attack , Missile ". "TOW" is an acronym that stands for "Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire command data link, guided missile"...
tube: Day/night operation using integral night sight system (4 missiles). Secondary weapon: One ring-mount fitted with a 7.62 mm machine gun (2000 rounds). - VBL ALBI-MISTRAL: Air defense (currently developed). Radio equipment : 2 VHF PR4G transmitter/receivers (1 for tactical links; 1 for firing system data transmission). Armament: Twin-round ALBI turret firing the MISTRALMistralMistral commonly refers to the Mistral in southern France and SardiniaMistral may also refer to:* Mistral, various ships of the French Navy, including:** Mistral class amphibious assault ship of the French Navy...
"fire-and-forget" air defence missile, 6 missiles including 2 on the fire unit. Secondary weapon: One semi-circular rail fitted with a 7.62 mm machine gun (1200 rounds). - VBL (à flancs redressés) CANON: With an automated 20 mm turret. Radio equipment : 1 VHF transmitter/receiver. Armament: MK 20 Rh 202 automatic 20 mm cannon (Rate of fire: 1000 rounds/minute, Elevation range: −10° to +45°, Rounds carried: 260, Munitions loaded: 160 (60 left, 100 right), Sight: ZEISS PERI-Z-16, Optional equipment associated with the turret: laser range finder, thermal imager).
- VBL TOURELLE FERMEE: With a 12.7 mm remotely controlled turret. Radio equipment: 1 or 2 VHF transmitter/receivers. Armament: 12.7 mm or 7.62 mm machine gun or automatic 40 mm grenade launcher (Munition capacity: 600 rounds, day/night camera, laser rangefinder).
Note that the reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
version is equipped with TR-VP 213 or PR4G radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, OB 41 and OB 43 night vision goggles and DUK-DUR 440 radiation meter and a dosimeter
Dosimeter
Dosimeters measure an individual's or an object'sexposure to something in the environment — particularly to a hazard inflicting cumulative impact over long periods of time, or over a lifetime...
.
Operators
- 1,621 VBLs currently in use.
- 64
- 30
- 7
- 12
- 243
- Georgian HQ units who are part of the ISAF are using the VBL and VAB in the Kabul area.
- The Indonesian ArmyIndonesian ArmyThe Indonesian Army , the land component of the Indonesian Armed Forces, has an estimated strength of 328,517 regular personnel. The force's history began in 1945 when the Tentara Keamanan Rakyat "Civil Security Forces" served as paramilitary and police.Since the nation's independence struggle,...
operates 18 VBLs. - 20, Used by Kuwait Police.
- 40 in service. the first country to buy this model.
- 7.
- IISS Military Balance 2007 estimates Nigeria has 72 VBLs (reported).
- 132.
- 37.
- 16.
- 16.
- 1 used by the PTJPTJ (Counter-terrorist Unit)The PTJ , is the special operations police unit of Serbia.As its name states, the PTJ is oriented towards anti-terror operations as well as securing and maintaining the internal security of Serbia. Often only used in operations deemed too dangerous for other police units, it is highly trained and...
(ex-UN vehicle believed to have been captured by Bosnian Serb forces in Bosnia and later transferred to Serbia). - 2.