Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé

The Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé, known as the VAB and literally the Armoured Forward Vehicle, is a French armoured personnel carrier and support vehicle designed and built by Renault Trucks Defense, now Arquus. It was conceived as a wheeled troop transporter to complement the tracked AMX-10P, with a lightly armoured, NBC-proof and amphibious hull, and the Renault prototype was chosen in May 1974 over the entry of Panhard. It entered French service in 1979, around 5,000 were produced for the French Army and for export, and it has been sold to more than 15 countries. More than thirty variants exist, among them mechanized infantry, anti-tank missile, self-propelled mortar, electronic warfare, reconnaissance and artillery observation versions. As of 2019 it was still the standard armoured personnel carrier of the French Army but was gradually being replaced by the VBMR Griffon.