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
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.

History

Produced to the extent of some 3,000 vehicles from 1957, it was initially produced as the AMX-13 VTT (véhicule de transport de troupe) carrying ten infantrymen and armed with an AA-52 7.5 mm machine gun or 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun in an open mounting. In the final versions this had climbed to a turret equipped with a 20mm light autocannon, producing a vehicle that can be seen as an early example of the infantry fighting vehicle.

The AMX-13 VCI itself was the basis for a number of variants:

• AMX-VTP: Original APC variant armed with open-mount light machine-gun
• AMX-VTT (AMX-VCI): APC fitted with 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 50 calibre (12.7 mm) HMG used by France and the Netherlands
• AMX-VCI M-56: Fitted with Canon de 20 mm
• 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 rear
• AMX-13 RATAC: VTT-based RATAC ground surveillance radar vehicle
• AMX DOZER: bulldozer blade equipped version

Rear view of a AMX-13 VTT

• 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 rear-mounted ENTAC missile launcher
• AMX-13 mod.56 [cargo]: Belgian Army version
• AMX-VTT TOW: Dutch Army version with TOW launcher on cupola
• AMX-GWT (GeWonden Transport): Dutch army version of the VCTB

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 upon 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 M-46 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

•  Argentina: Argentine Army
•  Belgium: Belgian Army successor to the M75 armored personnel carrier AMX-13 mod.56 VTT (305 vechicles), AMX-13 mod.56 PC (72 Vechicles), AMX-13 mod.56 Cargo (58 vechicles), AMX-13 mod.56 Mor (90 Vechicles), AMX-13 mod.56 MILAN (86 Vechicles) and AMX-13 mod.56 ENTAC (30 Vechicles). Replaced by the M113A1-B and the AIFV-B. ^[3]
•  Cyprus: VTT/VCA and command post versions in service with the Cypriot National Guard.
•  Ecuador: Ecuadorian Army
•  France: French Army, replaced by the AMX-10P.
•  Indonesia: Indonesian Army in duty 200
•  Lebanon: in service with the Lebanese Army from surplus French Army stocks between 1983-1990.
•  Mexico: Mexican Army
•  Netherlands: Dutch Army
•  Qatar: Qatar Armed Forces (Army)
•  Sudan: Sudan People's Armed Forces
•  Venezuela: Venezuelan Army
•  United Arab Emirates: United Arab Emirates Army

Non-state operators

• South Lebanon Army: ex-Lebanese Army vehicles in service between 1984-2000.

See also

• AMX-13
• AMX-10P
• List of AFVs

Notes

1. ^ Zaloga, Tank battles of the Mid-East Wars (2003), p. 54.
2. ^ Zaloga, Tank battles of the Mid-East Wars (2003), pp. 56 and 60.
3. ^ 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

• Photos and file on the AMX-13 VCI at ArmyRecognition.com