Panhard VBL French 4x4 Scout Car

The Panhard Véhicule Blindé Léger ("Light armored vehicle"), also known by its acronym Panhard VBL or simply VBL, is a French wheeled 4x4 all-terrain vehicle built by Panhard. The vehicle is offered in various configurations, and 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. Produced between 1985 and 2010, the vehicle has been used by the French Army and other European, African and Central American armies in various conflicts since the 1980s. The French VBL program started in 1978. The French Army was looking for a light reconnaissance vehicle, intended to work with the AMX-10 RC, the Hotchkiss M201 being obsolete when compared with the Soviet BRDM-2s. The new vehicle needed to be armed with a single machine gun for reconnaissance (recce) or with the MILAN missile for anti-tank combat, while being protected from NBC hazards and small arms fire. Both Renault and Panhard proposed a prototype, the trials beginning in 1982. Before its selection by the French armed forces in 1985, the Panhard model was ordered by the Mexican Army in 1984. In 1985, a pre production of 15 vehicles for the French Army was launched while the VBL started its active operational service in the French Army in 1990. The French Army ordered 569 VBLs in 1990, 330 between 1994 and 1997, and 700 VB2L (lengthened variant) before 2004. The VBL, sold abroad as the ULTRAV M-11 has been produced at Marolles-en-Hurepoix, around 10 vehicles being produced each month in 2004. The 1,500th VBL was produced in 2001 and the last VBL of the 2,600 VBLs left the plant in 2010. The VBL has two compartments: a motor bay, placed forward to protect the second compartment, which is for the crew. Its compact internal dimensions led to the design of a lengthened version of the VBL. The crew of the VBL is protected against NBC weapons. The recce versions have two crew members while the anti-tank versions have a crew of three. The French Army version of the VBL is equipped with a Peugeot XD3T turbo-diesel engine. This engine is used on many civilian cars, such as the Peugeot 505, Peugeot 605 and Talbot Tagora and the VBL used many other standard civilian components. Its 95 hp (71 kW) power and 29.5 hp/t (22.0 kW/t) power ratio enable the VBL to speed at 95 km/h (59 mph). It has a fuel consumption of 16 litres (3.5 imp gal; 4.2 US gal) per 100 km (62 mi). Its range of 600 km (370 mi) can be extended to 800 km (500 mi) by two external fuel tanks. Designed to be lighter than 3.5 t (3.4 long tons; 3.9 short tons), the mass of the VBL has increased to 4 t (3.9 long tons; 4.4 short tons). The VBL is fully amphibious and drives at 5.4 km/h (3.4 mph) in water; it is also air transportable by C-130, C-160, Il-76 and A400M. It can be transported underslung by larger helicopters, such as the AS332 Super Puma, and may also be para-dropped.