AMX-VCI

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.

AMX-13 VCI
AMX-13 VTT
TypeArmored personnel carrier
Place of originFrance
Service history
WarsLebanese Civil War
Sudanese Civil War
Turkish invasion of Cyprus
Cenepa War
Specifications
Mass15.0 tonnes
Length5.7 m
Width2.67 m
Height2.41m
Crew3 + 10 passengers
Armor10-40mm
Main
armament
turret mounted 20mm cannon
Secondary
armament
12.7 mm machine gun or 7.5 mm machine gun small turret
EngineSOFAM Model 8Gxb 8-cyl. water-cooled petrol
Power/weight16.7/tonne
SuspensionTorsion-bar
Operational
range
350 km
Maximum speed 60 km/h

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.[1] 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
Rear view of an AMX-13 VTT
  • 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

Lebanese Civil War

A total of 60 AMX-VCI were delivered to the Lebanese Army in 1971-72,[2] with additional 30 vehicles being reportedly delivered in May 1983.[3] A number of VCIs were seized by the Amal Movement militia and 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 during the Mountain War. 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; those used by Amal were returned to the Lebanese Army earlier in October 1990. VCIs up-armed with US M40 106mm recoilless rifles were later employed by Lebanese Army General Michel Aoun's loyalist troops during the Elimination War against his Christian rivals of the Lebanese Forces (LF) militia at East Beirut in February 1990.[4][5]

Operators
Map with AMX-VCI operators in blue and former operators in red

Current operators

Former operators
  •  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.[6]
  •  France: French Army, replaced by the AMX-10P.
  •  Lebanon: 60 vehicles in service with the Lebanese Army from surplus French Army stocks between 1971-1990.[7] Replaced by the M113 and the AIFV-B-C25.
  •  Netherlands: Dutch Army, 345 AMX-PRI (infantry fighting vehicle), 162 PRCO (command), 46 PRVR (cargo) et 46 PRGWT (ambulance). 67 PRI modified to mortar carriers (PRMR) et 26 to tank destroyers (PRAT), with TOW missiles[8]
  • Amal Movement militia: ex-Lebanese Army vehicles in service between 1984 and 1990.
  • 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
  1. Tanks and armored fighting vehicles : visual encyclopedia. New York, N.Y.: Chartwell Books. 2012. p. 300. ISBN 9780785829263. OCLC 785874088.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-12-29. Retrieved 2018-01-02.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Zaloga, Tank battles of the Mid-East Wars (2003), p. 54.
  4. Zaloga, Tank battles of the Mid-East Wars (2003), pp. 56; 60.
  5. Kassis, 30 Years of Military Vehicles in Lebanon (2003), p. 10.
  6. Milpedia, AMX-13 VTT, De Belgische AMX-13 Model 56 Archived 2011-04-03 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Hokayem, L'armée libanaise pendant la guerre: un instrument du pouvoir du président de la République (1975-1985) (2012), p. 106.
  8. Piet F. van den Heuvel. "AMX voertuigen in de Koninklijke Landmacht, 1961-1983" (PDF). Archived from the original on 1 November 2013.

References
  • Christopher F. Foss, Jane's Tank and Combat Vehicle Recognition Guide, HarperCollins Publishers, London 2002. ISBN 0-00-712759-6
  • Joseph Hokayem, L'armée libanaise pendant la guerre: un instrument du pouvoir du président de la République (1975-1985), Lulu.com, Beyrouth 2012. ISBN 9781291036602, 1291036601 (in French) –
  • Samer Kassis, 30 Years of Military Vehicles in Lebanon, Beirut: Elite Group, 2003. ISBN 9953-0-0705-5
  • Samer Kassis, Véhicules Militaires au Liban/Military Vehicles in Lebanon 1975-1981, Trebia Publishing, Chyah 2012. ISBN 978-9953-0-2372-4
  • 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
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