AMX-VCI
| AMX-13 VCI | |
|---|---|
AMX-13 VTT
|
|
| Type | armoured personnel carrier |
| Place of origin |  France |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 15.0 tonnes |
| Length | 5.7 m |
| Width | 2.67 m |
| Height | 2.41m |
| Crew | 3 + 10 passengers |
|
|
|
| Armor | 10-40mm |
|
Main
armament |
turret mounted 20mm cannon |
|
Secondary
armament |
12.7 mm machine gun or 7.5 mm machine gun small turrent |
| Engine | SOFAM Model 8Gxb 8-cyl. water-cooled petrol |
| Power/weight | 16.7/tonne |
| Suspension | Torsion-bar |
|
Operational
range |
350 km |
| Speed | 60 km/h |
The AMX-VCI (French: Véhicule de Combat d'Infanterie) is one of the many variants of the French AMX-13 light tank. It was the front line APC of the French Army until replaced by the AMX-10P. It is still used by some countries, for example Mexico, where it goes under the name of DNC-1 and is armed with a 20mm cannon.
Contents
History
Beginning in 1957, some 3,000 vehicles were produced. It was initially produced as the AMX-13 VTT (véhicule de transport de troupe), which carried ten infantrymen and was armed with either an AA-52 7.5 mm machine gun or a 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun in an open mounting. The final versions had a turret equipped with a 20mm light autocannon, producing a vehicle that can be seen as an early example of the infantry fighting vehicle.
Variants
The AMX-13 VCI itself was the basis for a number of variants:
- AMX-VTP: Original APC variant armed with an open-mount light machine-gun
- AMX-VTT (AMX-VCI): APC fitted with a turret mounted light machine-gun
- AMX-LT: VTT based artillery fire control vehicle
- AMX-PC: VTT based Command Post
- AMX-VCA: VTT based 155 mm Support Vehicle designed to accompany the Mk F3 SPH
- AMX-VCG: Combat engineer version
- AMX-VCI 12.7: Version with a 50 calibre (12.7 mm) HMG used by France and the Netherlands
- AMX-VCI M-56: Fitted with a 20mm cannon
- AMX-VCPM de 81: VTT-based 81 mm Mortar Carrier
- AMX-VCPM de 120: VTT-based 120 mm Mortar Carrier
- AMX-VCTB (Vehicule Chenillé Transport Blessés): VTT-based Ambulance
- AMX-VTT avec tourelle NA2: Fitted with ATGM launcher
- AMX-VTT ROLAND: Roland SPAAML
- AMX-VTT Version 1987: Modernised version with all the tank automotive improvements
- AMX-VTT with Minotaur Mine System: Minotaur scatterable mine-laying system fitted on the rear
- AMX-13 RATAC: VTT-based RATAC ground surveillance radar vehicle
- AMX DOZER: bulldozer blade equipped version
- AMX-13 VCPC: Argentinian Army version of the AMX-13 VCI
- AMX-13 mod.56 VCI: Belgian Army version with a .30 Browning mounted in a CALF38 turret
- AMX-13 mod.56 [81 mm mortar carrier]: Belgian Army version
- AMX-13 mod.56 [command post]: Belgian Army version
- AMX-13 mod.56 [ENTAC atgm]: Belgian Army version with a rear-mounted ENTAC missile launcher
- AMX-13 mod.56 [cargo]: Belgian Army version
- AMX-VTT TOW: Dutch Army version with a TOW launcher on a cupola
- AMX-GWT (GeWonden Transport): Dutch army version of the VCTB
- DNC-1:Mexican Army local designation, slightly modernized version with a diesel engine and a 20 mm. cannon, upgraded by SEDENA
Combat history
A total of 30 AMX-VCI were reportedly delivered to the Lebanese Army in May 1983,[1] with a number of them being seized by the pro-Israeli South Lebanon Army (SLA) militia in February 1984 after the defeat of the Lebanese government forces by Shia Muslim and Druze militias. The captured vehicles were quickly pressed into service by the SLA, who used them until the collapse of the militia in the wake of the Israeli withdrawal of April 2000. VCIs up-armed with US M40 106mm recoilless rifles were later employed by Lebanese Army General Michel Aoun’s loyalist troops in the battles against his Christian rivals of the Lebanese Forces (LF) at East Beirut in February 1990.[2]
Operators
Current operators
Argentina: Argentine Army
Cyprus: VTT/VCA and command post versions in service with the Cypriot National Guard.
Ecuador: Ecuadorian Army
Indonesia: Indonesian Army 200 in service
Mexico: Mexican Army 409 in service
Qatar: Qatar Armed Forces (Army)
Sudan: Sudan People's Armed Forces
Venezuela: Venezuelan Army
United Arab Emirates: United Arab Emirates Army
Former operators
- Army of Free Lebanon: ex-Lebanese Army vehicles in service between 1976–78
Belgium: Belgian Army successor to the M75 armored personnel carrier. AMX-13 mod.56 VTT (305 vehicles), AMX-13 mod.56 PC (72 vehicles), AMX-13 mod.56 Cargo (58 vehicles), AMX-13 mod.56 Mor (90 vehicles), AMX-13 mod.56 MILAN (86 vehicles) and AMX-13 mod.56 ENTAC (30 vehicles). Replaced by the M113A1-B and the AIFV-B.[3]- France: French Army, replaced by the AMX-10P
- Lebanese Arab Army: ex-Lebanese Army vehicles in service between 1976–77
Lebanon: in service with the Lebanese Army from surplus French Army stocks between 1983-1990.
Netherlands: Dutch Army- South Lebanon Army: ex-Lebanese Army vehicles in service between 1984 and 2000
- Italy (Italian Army) : AMX-13 VCI (various versions) (80-100 vehicles)
See also
Notes
- ↑ Zaloga, Tank battles of the Mid-East Wars (2003), p. 54.
- ↑ Zaloga, Tank battles of the Mid-East Wars (2003), pp. 56 and 60.
- ↑ Milpedia, AMX-13 VTT, De Belgische AMX-13 Model 56
References
- Christopher F. Foss, Jane's Tank and Combat Vehicle Recognition Guide, HarperCollins Publishers, London 2002. ISBN 0-00-712759-6
- Steven J. Zaloga, Tank battles of the Mid-East Wars (2): The wars of 1973 to the present, Concord Publications, Hong Kong 2003. ISBN 962-361-613-9
External links
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