Véhicule Blindé Léger

The Panhard Véhicule Blindé Léger ("Light armoured vehicle"), also known by its initialism Panhard VBL or simply VBL, is a French wheeled 4×4 all-terrain vehicle built by Panhard. The vehicle is offered in various configurations, and was designed to combine the agility of the Peugeot P4 liaison vehicle with adequate protection against small arms fire, artillery fragments, mines and NBC weapons. Produced between 1985 and 2010, the vehicle has been used by the French Army and other European, African and Central American armies in various conflicts since the 1980s.

Design

The French VBL programme started in 1978. The French Army was looking for a light reconnaissance vehicle, intended to work with the AMX-10 RC "wheeled tank", the Hotchkiss M201 jeep being obsolete when compared with the Soviet BRDM-2 armoured car. The new vehicle needed to be armed with a single machine gun for reconnaissance (recce) or with the MILAN missile for anti-tank combat, while being protected from NBC hazards and small arms fire. left the plant in 2010.

thumb|left|alt=Internal view of the cockpit of the VBL|Internal view of a VBL

The VBL has two compartments: a motor bay, placed forward to protect the second compartment, which is for the crew. Its compact internal dimensions led to the design of a lengthened version of the VBL. The crew of the VBL is protected against NBC weapons. The recce versions have two crew members while the anti-tank versions have a crew of three. Its power and power ratio enable the VBL to drive at . It has a fuel consumption of .

The VBL is fully amphibious with a speed of in water; it is also air transportable by C-130, C-160, Il-76 and A400M. It can be transported underslung by larger helicopters, such as the AS332 Super Puma, and may also be para-dropped.

File:Propeller VBL 2007 07 14.jpg|alt=A propeller at the rear end of a VBL|The propeller of the VBL enables it to drive in water.

File:Sgt. Brian Lyman Of US Army watches closely as Portuguese soldiers hook their Panhard VBL to a UH-60 Blackhawk 01.jpg|alt=People on top of the VBL hooking a cable under a Blackhawk helicopter flying above them|The VBL can be hooked to helicopters. Here a Portuguese VBL and an American UH-60 Blackhawk.

File:Cargoloader 1er régiment du train parachutiste (cropped).JPG|alt=A VBL on a cargo loader in an airport. The VBL is tied on a pallet. |A French VBL packed on a pallet in order to be para-dropped.

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Variants

thumb|alt=A short VBL during the military parade on the avenue des Champs-Élysées|VB2L

thumb|alt=A VBL with a heavy machine gun during the military parade on the avenue des Champs-Élysées|VBL RECO 12.7 with a PL-127 ring-mount

thumb|alt=A VBL with an anit-tank missile during the military parade on the avenue des Champs-Élysées|VBL MILAN

French versions

VBL standard, armed with a 7.62 mm machine gun AN-F1 (3,000 rounds). It used to carry twelve APILAS anti-tank weapons, but that has been replaced by Eryx short range ATGM
VBL MILAN: Anti-tank medium range combat. It uses one MILAN missile fire unit with six missiles, and mounts a MIRA Thermal camera.
VBL Ultima: upgraded version, with a diesel engine, new communication devices and without amphibious abilities.

Export versions

VBL TOW: Anti-tank long range with a TOW tube and four missiles.

Prototype versions

VBL MVO: version for riot control and internal security tasks.
VBL (à flancs redressés) CANON: With a MK 20 Rh 202 automatic 20 mm cannon on an automated turret.
VBL Azur: Urban warfare version.

Service history

thumb|alt=A soldier stand in front of a convoy of military vehicles, with KFOR markings and Portuguese flags. The second véhicule is a Portuguese VBL.|A Portuguese VBL deployed in Kosovo, 2000.

The VBL has been used in many peacekeeping operations of the French Army, notably in Lebanon, Bosnia, Rwanda and Kosovo. On 13 March 1985, the French contingent of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon in Beirut received three VBLs: one used on a static post, another as a liaison vehicle and the last one kept in reserve. The VBL was also often seen in the Siege of Sarajevo, due to the contribution of the French Army to the Blue Helmets in Yugoslavia. It was used as a means of transport by the main commanders of the UN forces, including General Lewis MacKenzie, earning the nickname "Sarajevo Taxi". Some were captured by the Army of Republika Srpska after the NATO bombings against Bosnian Serb Force. In other missions, a troop of three VBLs of the régiment d'infanterie-chars de marine in Rwanda was tasked to make contact with the Rwandan Patriotic Front and the civilian population during the Opération Turquoise,

In the 2000s and 2010s, the VBL has also been used by French forces in Ivory Coast. Between 2002 and 2003, the VBLs and the ERC-90s armored cars opened fire on MPIGO rebels to block their incursions. They were later used in Abidjan during the operation to oust Laurent Gbagbo from power in April 2011. In Afghanistan, the VBL units protected Kabul Airport and logistics axes. In Mali, the VBLs were deployed in 2013 in the Operation Serval; in the subsequent Operation Barkhane, several soldiers crewing VBLs were killed by improvised explosive devices. The VBL was also used in the Central African Republic in 2013.

The other European VBL users also used their vehicles in peacekeeping missions. Portuguese VBLs have been deployed as part of the Kosovo Force (KFOR) in Kosovo, working alongside the old Bravia Chaimite for escorts, control missions or mobile checkpoints. In this operation, the Greek military police company, tasked with traffic regulation on the Pristina-Skopje road, was equipped with VBLs. The Greek Battalion of the KFOR fielded six VBLs for reconnaissance missions. The Greek VBLs were also used in North Macedonia in 2001 during Operation Essential Harvest, and in Afghanistan.

Besides the French, other VBLs were also deployed in Africa. In Rwanda, the Forces Armées Rwandaises used their VBLs against the Rwandan Patriotic Front during the Rwandan Civil War, with the country's reconnaissance squadron (Escadron de Reconnaissance) having been trained by French advisors to use MILAN ATGMs as well as VBLs. Vehicles captured by the Rwandan Patriotic Army later saw action in the First and Second Congo Wars. In Nigeria, the Nigerian Army used the Panhard VBL as part of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group during the Sierra Leone Civil War. They have seen further use during the Boko Haram insurgency, some being lost to Boko Haram. In the Horn of Africa, the Djiboutian VBLs served against the FRUD during the Djiboutian Civil War in the 1990s: in contrast to the better motorised Humvees, the armour of the VBLs enabled them to resist the rebels' ambushes.

Across the Atlantic, the Mexican VBLs faced the Zapatista Army of National Liberation during the Chiapas conflict.

Operators

North America

thumb|alt=A VBL with a multi-scale camouflage and an FN MAG machine gun during an exhibition|A FN MAG-armed VBL of the Mexican Army in 2010.

The first user of the VBL was the Mexican Army, which ordered 40 in 1984. They were also the first ones to be delivered, in 1985. Three versions were bought: standard armed with a FN MAG, VBL PC (command post, on short chassis) and VBL MILAN.

Europe

thumb|alt=Front view of a VBL with a French-style camouflage. The older Greek flag is painted on its license plate.|A Hellenic Army VBL in 2007.

thumb|A VBL belonging to French forces in Estonia, exhibited after the military parade on the 2025 Estonian Independence Day in Tallinn

Portugal ordered its first VBL in December 1987. Locally designated M-11 for the short version and M-11D 4x4 M/89-91 for the long version, they have been serving in the Recce squadrons of the Intervention and of the Rapid Reaction brigades. The M-11s are armed with a Browning M1919 machine gun or with a MILAN missile and the M-11Ds with M2 Browning machine gun or SB-40 grenade-launcher on a PL127 ring-mount or with a radar. Greece ordered six VBLs in 1997 to use them in Albania, where the Hummer was too large and too unstable in frozen roads. The success of the vehicles drove to ten more orders between 1997 and 2004. The Greek VBLs are similar to the ones of the French Army, with short and long chassis, some with PL-127 ring-mount or with MILAN missiles. Having received 1,621 VBLs, All operational as of 2024.

: 64 VBL in service as of 2024.
: some captured
: 9 received from France in 1994. This prospect was cancelled in 2014 due to the international sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War.
: the Bundeswehr tested the VBL at the end of the 1980s.