VAB ARQUUS 4x4 wheeled APC armored vehicle personnel carrier

: 17 December 2021

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VAB 4x4 APC armoured vehicle personnel carrier

Description

Technical Data

Specifications

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Description

The VAB ("Véhicule de l'avant blindé" in French) is an armoured personnel carrier and support vehicle designed and manufactured by the French Defence Company ARQUUS formerly Renault Trucks Defense. Since 1976, more than 5,000 VABs have been produced in 30 different versions. The basic standard model is the 4x4 VAB VTT armored personnel carrier, which carries an infantry team of 8 - 10 fully-equipped soldiers in the relatively spacious armored hull.

Variants

- VAB VTT: 4x4 APC version, crew of two and ten passengers
- VAB T-20/13: VAB equipped with a turret mounted 20 mm gun recovered from old AMX-13 VCIs and refurbished and intended for fire support and for counter sniping
- VIB: IFV version fitted with the Toucan system, a teleoperated turret fitted with a 20 mm cannon and a AA52 7.62 mm machine-gun. Used by the French Air Force for airfield defence.[12]
- VAB VOA: Artillery observation vehicle
- VAB RATAC: Radar Artillery target acquisition vehicle, carries a doppler radar with a range of 20 km
- VAB RASIT: Reconnaissance vehicle, carries the RASIT ground surveillance radar
- VAB PC: Command vehicle
- VAB SIR: Digital regimental C4ISTAR information system
- VAB Bromure: Electronic warfare vehicle
- VAB Echelon: Maintenance and repair vehicle
- VAB Génie: Engineering vehicle
- VCAC Mephisto: Anti-tank vehicle, carries the Euromissile Mephisto system with four ready-to-fire HOT anti-tank missiles and eight more in reserve
- VTM 120: Mortar towing vehicle, can carry 70 bombs for the Thomson-Brandt 120mm mortar
- VPM 81: Mortar carrier with an 81mm mortar firing through a roof opening
- VAB SAN: Armoured ambulance
- VAB Reco: NBC reconnaissance vehicle
- VAB ATLAS: Artillery fire command and control vehicle
- VAB AZURE: Urban warfare vehicle equipped with a dozer blade and with panoramic periscopes to observe and monitor.
- VBC-90: Armoured car variant in service with the Mobile Gendarmerie
- VAB TOP: 4x4 APC version fitted with a Kongsberg Protector M151 RWS with 12.7mm machine gun and ceramic add-on armour

Technical Data

Armament

The most popular version of VAB 4x4 is fitted with a Nexter Systems rotating gun mount type CB 127 armed with a .50 (12.7 mm) M2 HB machine gun with an elevation of -15° to +45° with the shield in the normal position and from -20° to +80° in the anti-aircraft position; in both cases traverse is a full 360°. Since the deployment of the French army troops in Afghanistan, and to answer the new threats of the battlefield, the standard unprotected weapon station of French VAB is replaced by a Norwegian Kongsberg Remote Controlled Weapon Station (RCWS) armed with a .50 M2 HB MG. Some others version of VAB can be equipped with a full range of gun weapon system.

Protection

The all-welded steel hull of the VAB provides the crew with protection from small arms fire 7.62 mm and shell splinters. Both crew members have a side door that opens to the front, with a bulletproof window in its upper part hinged at the top and opening outwards that can be covered by a shutter. In front of the crew is a heated bulletproof windscreen that can be covered by a flap hinged at the top. Over the driver's position is a single-piece hatch cover that opens to the front.

Propulsion

The basic model used a 4x4 chassis. The VAB is motorized with a Renault MIDS 06-20-45 in-line water-cooled turbocharged 6-cylinder diesel developing 220 bhp at 2,200 rpm. The original engine was a MAN D.2356 HM 72 in-line water-cooled 6-cylinder diesel developing 220 hp at 2,200 rpm (standard on VAB until 1983) (option of 300 hp diesel).

Accessories

The VAB is fully amphibious, being propelled in the water by two water-jets at the rear of the hull, each fitted with a deflector for steering and reverse thrust, which is hydraulically controlled by a joystick mounted on the dashboard. Before entering the water, the bilge pumps are switched on and the trim vane, which is folded back onto the glacis plate when not required, is erected at the front of the hull. Not all export customers have water-jets fitted. Optional equipment for the VAB includes an air conditioning system, an armoured grenade thrower hood, a firing gun port with incorporated observation port, a gas dispenser, an NBC system (standard for French Army vehicles), passive night vision equipment, a public address system and a front-mounted winch with a capacity of 7,000 kg (which can be doubled with the aid of a pulley) and 60 m of cable.

Specifications