Renault VAB APC The VAB was developed by the Saviem/Renault Group to meet a French Army requirement, with production starting in 1976, Since then the VAB series has become one of the most diverse of all current French combat vehicles, having been produced with many variations, not the least being the existence of both 4 x 4 and 6 x 6 drive configurations although the two have many components in common. By mid-1994 over 5,000 had been produced, over 4,000 of them for the French armed forces with the rest going to at least ten customer nations, with other undisclosed orders having been placed at one time or another; production still continues, The base model is the 4 x 4 VAB VTT APC which carries up to ten troops
France in the relatively spacious armoured hull, Most VABs carry at least a 7.62 mm MG although 12.7 mm MGs and 20 mm cannon, with or without the ballistic protection provided by various types of turret, are alternatives. The VAB is often allocated to French Army units as an anti-tank vehicle armed with either MILAN or Mephisto ATGW. These vehicles have roof-mounted launcher turrets and carry reload missiles inside the troop compartment; TOW ATGW carriers have been developed. Other VABs are employed by the French Army for just about every support vehicle function that can be devised. The list includes the usual command vehicle and ambulance, but extends to combat engineer support carrier, communications VAB VTT
of all types, 81 mm mortar carrier, 120 mm mortar tractor (with the crews inside the vehicle), surveillance radar platform, electronic warfare (EW), recovery, repair and workshop, and even NBC reconnaissance; many other variants exist, including air defence platforms for guns and missiles, most of them having been produced for export customers. Internal security models have been produced for home and export sales. Renault have produced a VAB New Generation model featuring numerous design updates and enhancements which can be retrofitted to existing models; to date none have been produced in quantity.
