picture 191354

The Panhard Light Armoured Vehicle (Véhicule Blindé Léger, VBL) is a 4x4 all-terrain vehicle with adequate protection against small arms fire, artillery fragments, mines, and NBC-weapons, and has been in widespread service in multiple variants with the French armed forces since 1990. The vehicle shown was a VBL RECO 12.7 – a reconnaissance variant, capable of engaging light infantry with the help of its 12.7mm M2 machine gun on PL-127 ring-mount protected by side armour – as operated by the 1st Parachute Hussar Regiment (1er Régiment de Hussards Parachutistes, 1er RHP) in the CAR in 2003. (Artwork by David Bocquelet)