French company Panhard was founded in 189 1, which can be regarded as a "century-old shop". This company used to be a small company with hundreds of employees, mainly producing wheeled armored vehicles. As early as 1935, the company developed the famous AMD 178 armored vehicle, which was called "one of the best armored vehicles in the French army before and during World War II" and "effectively served in the French army and the German army". After World War II, Panhard Company entered the fast lane and quickly became a famous French military enterprise and the main supplier of wheeled armored vehicles in France. Over the past decades, Panhard has produced12,000 wheeled armored vehicles, which have been exported to more than 40 countries and regions in the world. 83% wheeled armored vehicles of the French army are products of Panhard Company, including AML90, ERC, M3 and VBL armored vehicles. 4×4 VBL wheeled reconnaissance vehicle is a light wheeled armored vehicle developed by it. In fact, VBL is the abbreviation of French vehicle blindleger, which means "light armored vehicle".
1978, the French military publicly invited tenders to develop a light wheeled armored vehicle with a weight less than 3.5 tons, including an anti-tank missile launcher and a reconnaissance vehicle. There were five French companies bidding at that time. After preliminary screening, the French military signed a contract with the famous Renault and Panhard companies, instructing them to design and manufacture three prototypes for PK respectively. 1983, these prototypes were delivered to the French army as scheduled, and a comparative test was started. 1985, the prototype of Panhard Company entered the competition. 1987, Panhard Company began to produce VBL armored vehicles for the French army.
The French military originally ordered 1000 anti-tank missile launchers and 2000 armored reconnaissance vehicles. Due to the unfulfilled defense funds, the French army only equipped about 700 VBL armored vehicles in the first few years, and later equipped some of them. By 2004, the French army had equipped 162 1 VBL armored vehicles. In addition, 6,565,438+0 cars were exported to 65,438+05 countries including Mexico, Portugal, Greece, Nigeria, Oman, Kuwait and Indonesia. A few years ago, Panhard exhibited its 17 kinds of wheeled armored vehicles at the Satolli Weapons and Equipment Exhibition, which shows the company's ambition to promote VBL armored vehicles. A variety of VBL deformation cars also let visitors stop to enjoy.
"3" is an auspicious number.
Some people in China think that "6" and "8" are auspicious numbers, meaning "six, six, great harmony" and "prosperity". For VBL armored vehicles, someone humorously "summed up" and said, "3 is a lucky number, weighing more than 3 tons, with a unit pressure of 30 HP/ton, 3 forward gears, 3 occupants, 3 doors, 3 doors and 3 front protective layers, and the unit price is 300,000 francs ... What's more interesting is that even the variant cars are three series, which is amazing! But there are four wheels after all. " Fortunately, there are four wheels. If there are only three wheels, it is a three-wheeled motorcycle.
Two basic models
There are two basic models of VBL armored vehicles: anti-tank missile launching type and reconnaissance type, which become the "two brothers" of VBL.
The VBL light armored vehicle adopts a 4×4 wheeled chassis, with a total combat weight of 3.59 tons, a vehicle length of 3.70 meters, a vehicle width of 2.02 meters, a vehicle height (to the top of the vehicle body) 1.70 meters, and a vehicle height of 2. 14 meters when a 7.62 mm machine gun is installed. 2 ~ 3 crew members, and the anti-tank missile launching model is 3 crew members (conductor, driver, missile shooter); The reconnaissance model has two crew members (commander, radio operator and pilot). The VBL reconnaissance vehicle with 1 2.7mm machine gun, plus1machine gunner, is the third passenger.
Generally speaking, the engine is at the front of the car body, and the fighting room is at the back of the car body. The driver's seat is on the left side of the front of the fighting room, and the conductor is on the right side of the front of the fighting room. They sit side by side. There are 1 doors on both sides of the car body. Together with the door at the rear of the car body, there are 3 doors in total. There are 1 doors on the head of the conductor and driver, plus the doors of the rear gunner or missile shooter, and there are also three doors at the top.
The car body is a fully welded structure with high strength and hardness steel armor. The thickness of the front armor plate is 1 1.5 mm, and the thickness of the side armor plate is 5 mm, which can resist the close attack of 7.62 mm armor-piercing projectile. The front armor of the car body has a large inclination angle, and the armor-piercing projectile is easy to bounce. The observation window on the car body is made of tempered glass with a thickness of 33.5 mm to 49 mm, which has the same protective performance as the surrounding steel armor. After the driver observes the window glass scratch, he can observe it through the driver's periscope. Even if the armor-piercing projectile penetrates the front armor, it is protected by the second partition between the engine and the gearbox and the third partition between the power cabin and the battle room. This "three-layer front protection layer" provides good front protection for passengers. Three prevention devices are optional.
The weapons of VBL armored vehicles vary with different models. The VBL armored reconnaissance vehicle is equipped with a 7.62 mm machine gun, which is installed on the circular rotating machine gun rack at the right front of the top of the vehicle body. The commander leaned out half of his body to control the shooting, and the ammunition base was 3000 rounds. There is also a reconnaissance vehicle with three crew members. The main weapon is a 1 12.7 mm heavy machine gun, which is mounted on a small machine gun tower with a guard at the back of the car body and fired by the gunner. Ammunition base 1200 rounds. On the anti-tank missile launcher, the main weapon is 1 anti-tank missile launcher, including Milan or Tao anti-tank missiles, which are slightly different in appearance, but they are all equipped with 7.62mm machine guns as auxiliary weapons. Milan anti-tank missile launcher was installed with six spare missiles. Equipped with anti-tank missiles, it has the ability to fight against enemy tanks. The car is also equipped with 2 ~ 3 5.56 mm rifles and 6 ~ 9 grenades. There is also a portable anti-tank rocket launcher on the reconnaissance model for short-range anti-tank.
Constant time 4x4 drive type
The power plant of VBL armored vehicle is XD3T 4-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine produced by Perot Company in France, with a cylinder displacement of 2.5 liters and a maximum power of 77.2 kW. Transmission device includes automatic gearbox and two-speed transfer box of German ZF company. The gearbox has three forward gears and 1 reverse gears. The transfer box has two gears, the high gear is "highway" and the low gear is "off-road". Plus the transfer case, * * * has six forward gears and two reverse gears. The limited slip differential is installed on the front axle and the rear axle respectively.
The biggest feature of the propulsion system of VBL armored vehicle is that it adopts "constant 4×4 drive mode". Generally, 4×4 wheeled armored vehicles or jeeps are mostly "front-afterburner" wheeled vehicles, which are actually 4×2 driven vehicles when driving on the road; Only when driving on difficult roads, will the "front afterburner" gear be engaged and become a 4×4 drive type. The advantage of this is that a set of "pre-force" device is omitted, and the disadvantage is that the steering control force may be slightly greater when driving on the road, but the problem is not great.
The suspension devices of the front and rear wheels of VBL armored vehicles are also different. The front wheel is a spiral spring suspension device with double-acting shock absorber; The rear wheel is a torsion bar spring suspension device with a double-acting shock absorber. The reason why two kinds of suspension devices are used is probably due to the specific structural restrictions. The brake is a four-wheel disc brake. Its tires are "Michelin" bulletproof tires, and even if the tires are punctured, they can travel 50 kilometers at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour. The car is equipped with a central tire inflation and deflation system. A propeller-type water propulsion device is installed at the rear of the car body. The reason why one paddle is chosen instead of two is because the structure is simpler, and its disadvantage is that the turning radius on water is larger. It seems that the designer of VBL armored vehicle mainly wants to solve the problem of whether there is propeller on the water, and does not want to obtain high water performance, which will be too expensive. The maximum speed of VBL armored vehicle is 95km/h and the maximum driving distance is 550km. With an oil tank, the maximum travel distance can reach 1000 km, which is suitable for independent long-term reconnaissance. The top speed on the water is only 5.8 km/h, so the breakwater at the front of the car should be erected before entering the water. VBL armored vehicles can be hoisted, airlifted and dropped by military transport planes or helicopters.
When a military reporter visited the test run of VBL armored vehicles, his impromptu feelings were very intriguing. He said: "The shape of the VBL armored vehicle is extremely compact, but the space inside the vehicle is beyond people's imagination. When you get on the bus, you will immediately realize that this is a small reconnaissance car. The observation conditions inside and outside the car are quite good, and there is no observation dead angle. Getting on and off is very convenient, which is more convenient than getting on a jeep. Off-road driving performance is very good, and vehicle acceleration is also quite good. The vehicle is stable when turning sharply, much better than the jeep. The fly in the ointment is that the noise emitted by the engine in the car is loud, but the noise transmitted to the outside of the car is small. When the enemy observer heard the noise, the armored vehicle was already in front of him ... ". The word Duan Yu beauty is not low.
Three series variant car
As mentioned earlier, there are three series of VBL armored vehicles, which are very easy to modify. As before, they were converted into more than 20 variant vehicles, forming a huge car family.
The first type is a variant car with a short wheelbase (2.45 meters) and a short body (3.7 meters). As for the "heads", they are the "little brothers" in the VBL family. This variant vehicle includes: reconnaissance vehicle with 7.62mm machine gun or 12.7mm machine gun, Milan anti-tank missile launcher, Tao anti-tank missile launcher, command vehicle, radio communication vehicle, Milan missile carrier vehicle, Hult anti-tank missile launcher and its carrier vehicle, etc.
The second category is variant vehicles with long wheelbase (2.70 meters) and short body (3.70 meters), including 60mm mortar vehicles and their ammunition delivery vehicles, 20mm cannon armored vehicles and "Jungle" light armored vehicles equipped with 7.62mm machine gun towers.
The third category is variant vehicles with long wheelbase (2.70 meters) and long body (3.77 meters), including six-person armored transport vehicles, internal security vehicles, radar vehicles, radar generator vehicles, passenger transport vehicles on duty, light repair vehicles, ambulances, Northwest Wind missile launch vehicles and their transport vehicles.
Comparing the differences between these three series, we can see that the differences between them are not very big. The wheelbase difference is only 0.25 meters, and the body length difference is only 0.07 meters. It shows that the designer's consideration on the overall layout is quite detailed.
Comparison between VBL and Hummer
It is interesting to compare French VBL armored vehicles with the famous American Hummer.
There are many similarities between VBL and Hummer (take M998 Hummer as an example). Both of them are 4×4 drive wheeled vehicles with a total combat weight of about 3.5 tons. The gearbox has three forward gears and 65,438+0 reverse gears. Plus the high and low speed transfer case, * * * has six forward gears and two reverse gears. Both of them have strong deformability, each with more than 20 varieties, which can be transported by air and so on. The purchase prices of these two cars are similar.
However, these two cars have different development purposes and different uses in the battlefield, so the difference is quite obvious. VBL armored vehicle is a light armored vehicle, which is mainly used for battlefield reconnaissance and anti-tank operations. Hummer is mainly used for riding, so it is called "battlefield taxi". In the US military, there is a mantra that "where there are US troops, there are Hummers". Hummer is faster, with a top speed of113 km/h. VBL cars are armored, but most Hummer cars are not armored. Only the new M 1 1 14 Hummer has armor. If it is used as a motor vehicle on the battlefield, it seems that Hummer is better; If used as a light combat vehicle, there is no doubt that VBL armored vehicles are better. Even if they are armored transport vehicles (jeeps), Hummers can take 1+2 people, and VBL armored vehicles can take 2+4 people, just half a class. In addition, VBL has the ability to sail on water, while Hummer does not.
Compare the "heads" of both. The length× width× height of VBL armored vehicle is 3.70× 2.02×1.70m, and the length× width× height of Hummer vehicle is 4.84× 2.12×1.87m. The length, width and height of VBL armored vehicle are smaller than Hummer, so VBI is more compact than Hummer. In fact, during the Gulf War, American soldiers reported that Hummers "had too hard seats and poor ride comfort", while military journalists praised the internal layout and ride comfort of VBL armored vehicles. It can be seen that although VBL armored vehicle is smaller than Hummer, its interior layout and overall design are quite ingenious.
In terms of the quantity of equipment, the total output of Hummer vehicles has reached more than 654.38+600,000, while the total output of VBL armored vehicles is only 2,300, which is less than the fraction of Hummer vehicles. Although the sales performance of VBL armored vehicles may never catch up with Hummer, there is no doubt that VBL will occupy a place in the world of light armored vehicles. In hot spots around the world, you will often see the figure of VBL armored vehicles in the United Nations peacekeeping forces.