France
PanKard IVI3 APC The Panhard M3 wheeled APC is another French armoured vehicle which was produced primarily as a private venture with the objective being export sales, With the M3, Panhard produced a winner for the M3 was sold to some 26 known countries, with a final production total of over 1,000. Many of the 4 x 4 drive and other components are identical to those of the Panhard AML series of light armoured cars of which thousands were produced, so adapting that design for the APC market involved mainly the introduction of an sloping-walled armoured box hull plus its interior, and little else, The result was a simple, rugged and adaptable vehicle which has continued to serve many users well ever since production started during 1971. The Panhard M3 underwent some detail changes since then but the overall design remained basically unchanged, being little more than an armoured troop carrier with only limited armament, usually a 7.62 mm MG in a small roofmounted turret or with the weapon on a pintle over a hatch; a 12.7 mm MG or a 20 mm cannon can be installed but this is apparently rarely done.
The ten occupants are provided with access doors in the sides and rear and roof hatches are provided; there are also firing hatches along each side. In addition to the two-man crew and ten passengers it is also possible to cany loads of supplies weighing over 1 tonne. Variants have been produced, one being an air defence vehicle (M3/VDA) with twin 20 mm cannon and a radarbased fire control system.
There is also the M3/VTS ambulance, the M3/VLA combat engineer vehicle, the M3/VPC mobile command centre, and the M3/VAT repair vehicle. The Panhard M3 has also been used to carry battlefield radars. Production of the Panhard M3 has now ceased in favour of the Panhard Buffalo (following entry).
Panhard M3 APC
