Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé

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The Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé or VAB (literally meaning "Armoured Forward Vehicle"; but more appropriately translated: "Armoured Vanguard Vehicle") is a French armoured personnel carrier and support vehicle designed and manufactured by Renault Trucks Defense (now known as Arquus). It entered French service in 1979 and around 5,000 were produced for the French Army as well as for export. It has seen combat in various conflicts in Africa, Asia as well as Europe and has also been exported to more than fifteen countries.

A polyvalent military vehicle, the VAB has more than thirty variants and sub-variants. Beyond their common primary role of transporting personnel and equipment in combat zones, some VAB are tailored for mechanized infantry combat, some fulfill the role of anti-tank missile launchers, some of self-propelled mortars, some are optimized for electronic warfare, others act as reconnaissance or artillery observation vehicles, etc.

As of 2019, it still is the standard APC of the French Army but is gradually being replaced by its successors, the six-wheel VBMR Griffon (introduced in 2019) and the four-wheel VBMR-L Serval (introduced in 2022).

Users[edit | edit source]

  • Armenia
  • Benin
  • Brunei
  • Central African Republic
  • Chad
  • Cyprus
  • France
  • Gabon
  • Georgia
  • Indonesia
  • Italy
  • Ivory Coast
  • Kuwait
  • Lebanon
  • Morocco
  • Oman
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Tunisia
  • Ukraine
  • United Arab Emirates