Panhard AML

Panhard AML-245

Panhard AML at the Musée des Blindés, Saumur.
Type Armoured Scout Car
Place of origin France
Service history
Used by See Operators
Wars
Production history
Designed 1959[1]
Manufacturer Panhard
Produced 1961 – 1987[2]
Number built 4,000[3]
Variants See Variants
Specifications
Weight 5.5 tonnes (6.1 short tons; 5.4 long tons)[4]
Length 5.11 m (16 ft 9 in)[5]
 length 3.79 m (12 ft 5 in) (hull)[5]
Width 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)[5]
Height 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in)[4]
Crew 3 (commander, driver, gunner)[5]

Main
armament
90mm GIAT F1 (20 rounds)
60mm Brandt mortar (53 rounds)[5]
Secondary
armament
7.62 mm MAS coaxial machine gun (2400 - 3800 rounds)[5]
Engine Panhard 1.99 l (121 in3) Model 4 HD flat 4-cylinder air-cooled petrol[6]
90 hp (67 kW) at 4,700 rpm[4]
Power/weight 16.36 hp/tonne (11.9 kW/tonne)[4]
Suspension Wheeled 4x4
Ground clearance 0.33mm[4]
Fuel capacity 156 litres
Operational
range
600 km[5]
Speed 100 km/h[5]

The Panhard AML-245 (Auto Mitrailleuse Légère, or "Light Gun Car") is a fast, long-ranged, and relatively cheap first-generation armoured car with excellent reconnaissance capability.[7] Designed on a small, lightly armoured 4X4 chassis, it weighs an estimated 5.5 tonnes - much lighter than a tank - and is therefore more rapidly employable. Since 1959 AMLs have been marketed on up to five continents; several variants remained in continuous production for half a century.[8] These have been operated by fifty-four national governments and other entities worldwide, seeing regular combat.[9]

The AML-245 was once regarded as one of the most heavily armed scout vehicles in service, fitted with a low velocity DEFA D921 90mm (3.54 in) smoothbore cannon firing conventional high explosive and high explosive anti-tank shells, or a Brandt LR 60mm (2.36 in) breech loading mortar with 53 rounds and dual 7.5mm MAS AA-52 NF-1 machine guns with 3,800 rounds, all mounted coaxially in the turret.[10] An AML is capable of destroying targets at 1,500 meters with its D921 main gun. In this configuration it is considered a match for second-line and older main battle tanks.[11][12]

AMLs have appeared most prominently in Angola, Iraq, and the Falkland Islands, where they were pitted against British FV101 Scorpions by Argentine forces, as well as in the Lebanese Civil War between 1975 and 1990.

History

During World War II, the French Army and their Free French successors used a wide variety of vehicles for reconnaissance duties, ranging from the compact Laffly S15 to the Panhard 178, which could mount the same 75mm armament as contemporary heavy tanks, and multi-wheeled designs such as the Type 201.[6] After the war it became less desirable to maintain this plethora of armoured cars. In July 1945 Paris issued a requirement for a postwar design combining those features of previous assets - especially the Type 201 - that had shown potential both during and prior to the Battle of France. This led to the 8x8 Panhard EBR (Type 212) which entered service in 1950.[13] Similarly, in 1956 the French Ministry of Defense was persuaded to commission a replacement for the Daimler Ferret scout car. Also manufactured by Panhard, the successor was the AML (Type 245) which entered service in 1961.[14]

As with much postwar hardware based on the experience of subsequent colonial theatres, the AML was recognized for its outstanding ruggedness, dependability, firepower-to-weight ratio, and adaptability to the numerous minor conflicts waged since 1945.[6] This reputation has led to amazing export success in over forty countries, Africa being one of its biggest markets.[13]

Development

Early model of the Panhard AML-60, one of several which entered service with the Mobile Gendarmerie.

The Panhard AML was birthed as a private venture by the Société de Constructions Panhard et Levassor, a military subsidiary of PSA Peugeot Citroën. It was derived in part from the Daimler Ferret, offering important similarities in external design. The first prototype appeared in 1959 and the vehicle was put into production in 1960, with more than 4,000 examples constructed by the time production ended.

In the late 1950s, the French Army successfully operated a number of Ferret scout cars in Algeria. Impressive as they were from a conventional standpoint, the rest of France's existing light armoursuch as the Panhard EBR and M8 Greyhoundwere not suitably equipped for counter-insurgency; battles of the Algerian War often involved short, sharp, skirmishes which required indirect fire support such as mortars rather than solid shot and shell.[15] In addition, the North African conditions demanded a lighter, less sophisticated, vehicle which would be simpler to maintain and operate. As an interim measure France had purchased two hundred Ferrets from the United Kingdom. These were light enough but carried only a single general-purpose machine gun, which was inadequate for offensive purposes. Nevertheless, they were sufficiently successful that there was a possibility of producing the Ferret under licence in France. However, Saviem, Berliet, and Panhard petitioned for bidding on a home-grown vehicle, and in 1956 the Ministère de la Défense issued specifications for an indigenous wheeled armoured car of similar dimensions and layout to the Ferret but mounting a breech-loading mortar. By 1959, this had emerged as the Auto Mitrailleuse Légère, designated Model 245 "B" by Panhard.[16] Early prototypes were completed in mid-1959 and by the end of 1961 at least one regiment in Algeria was receiving them. The AML was equipped with a 60mm Brandt gun-mortar and two medium MAS AA-52 NF-1 machine guns.[6]

The AML was immediately successful, but as the Algerian conflict diminished so did the need for a light mortar carrier deployed in anti-guerrilla operations. A more primary concern was the conventional threat posed by Soviet airborne fighting vehicles in the event of a Warsaw Pact invasion. Meanwhile, South Africa, an AML customer which had considered adopting the British Alvis Saladin, also charged Panhard technicians to look into the development of an AML variant with equal or superior fire support capability.[15] This and the adoption of a highly effective 90mm smoothbore cannon led to all new AML-245 "C"s being refitted with the H-90 turret sporting the new gun.[16] It fired fin-stabilised, shaped charge, projectiles boasting a muzzle velocity of 760 m/s and more than capable of penetrating 320mm of rolled homogeneous armour. In consequence, the later AMLs could even engage main battle tanks.[17][18] In addition to its HEAT shells the H-90 also carries fin-stabilised high-explosive (HE) projectiles, the total number of rounds stored being 20, compared with the 56 of the original 60mm mortar version.[4]

To provide a complete family of wheeled armoured cars, Panhard used AML components to engineer a small personnel carrier, the Véhicule Transport de Troupes, better known as the Panhard M3. The M3 consisted of a boxy, all-welded, hull with an engine relocated behind the driver in order to provide a large troop compartment at its rear. Its wheelbase was also increased from the AML's 2.5m to a higher 2.7m. and the track from 1.62 to 2.5m. In spite of this, maintenance alongside the AML fleet is rather simplified, given that both vehicles share a 95% interchangeability in automotive parts.[6]

Specifications

Fitted with coil spring suspension and drum brakes, the AML lacks hydraulic assist on either brakes or steering; only front wheels steer.[6] Consequently, the steering wheel requires considerable strength to turn while the vehicle is in motionwhile stationary it remains effectively locked.[19] Rear wheel drive is transmitted directly to epicyclic hub reduction gears, also known as bevel boxes.[20] The motor and gearbox have been harnessed via a centrifugal clutch with electromagnetic control, eliminating the need for a clutch pedal.[21] This type of clutch is automatically engaged by gripping the knob of the gearshift lever, which is located behind the driver's seat in the turret floor.[20] An AML's crankshaft is carried in three ball bearings to reduce motor friction.[20] Powerplant design was inspired by the Panhard EBR and incorporates an air-cooled, 156 litre, four cylinder engine developing 67 kW (90 hp).[22] AMLs may also be fitted with a variety of liquid-cooled engines, although as demonstrated by its Eland Mk7 counterpart this requires a costly rebuild of the rear hull to accommodate the new cooling apparatus.[21]

AML hulls are assembled from only 13 welded pieces, with a driver seated at the front of the hull and the turret to his immediate rear.[20] Above both doors the hull widens into a circular flange onto which the turret is bolted.[23] This makes the turret basket extremely cramped, and little space is available above an AML-90's turret ring due to the massive gun breech and somewhat haphazard ammunition stowage. There are optical ring sights in front of both turret seats for quick laying of the main armament.[23]

The AML uses nitrogen inner tubes (in this case Hutchinson V.P.-P.V.s) adopted from the EBR, providing run flat capability on 41 cm (16 in.)-diameter wheels; its 280mm (11 in.) wide Michelin tyres can be deflated to reduce ground pressure to as low as 70 to 110 kPa (10 to 16 psi).[6] These have been replaced in some Anglophone armies by the Dunlop Trak Grips also favoured in Bedford and Alvis military vehicles.[20]

Service history

Marine AML awaiting demilitarisation in a French scrapyard, 1999.

France

French military doctrine recognised two separate fields of armoured vehicle deployment, the first consisting of primary tasks such as manoeuvre and combat, while the second included other tasks such as rearguard defence, liaison, and deception. The latter was to be the responsibility of a mobile reserve which provided interior security during wartime - designated Défense Opérationnelle du Territoire (DOT) armoured cavalry regiments.[24] Initially equipped with AMLs and jeeps modified for scouting purposes, these units worked closely with the French police and National Gendarmerie. Their goal was to intercept hostile special forces or airborne units which specialised in deep penetration behind the front line. Secondary tasks included counter-insurgency, passive observation, and guarding static installations.[24]

Each DOT troop came to include three AML platoons.[24] As they were expected to remain faithful to the traditional mission of reconnaissance where observation had priority over combat, a number of the Panhards seem to have been stripped of their main armament, necessitating crew dependence on the vehicle's secondary automatic weapons. Nevertheless, as French reconnaissance theory also suggested the occasional need to engage hostile armour and force it to deploy, AML-90s were favoured as well. DOT regiments came to hold a generic pool of sixteen AML-90s and thirty-four other AMLs of varying configuration.[24]

As the AML was readily air transportable, it came to form the materiel strongpoint of the French Foreign Legion's rapid deployment force.[10] The Legion AMLs saw combat overseas, either as part of single deployments by the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment or to provide fire support for other Legion regiments. Crews perfected unique airfield assaults in which AML-90s were unloaded directly from Transall C-160s onto the objective, with infantry joining them by parachute.[10] These vehicles first saw combat against BTR-152s manned by FROLINAT rebels in Chad during Opération Tacaud. In the subsequent months, additional AML-90s rushed in by the Régiment d'infanterie-chars de marine (RICM) repelled a major offensive by the Chadian Democratic Revolutionary Council, which was backed by fifty Libyan T-55 tanks and EE-9 Cascavel armoured cars.[25]

The Mobile Gendarmerie operated over a hundred AML-60s and AML-90s, which were allocated to nineteen separate squadrons. In subsequent decades, a number may have been replaced by the much heavier Renault VBC-90.[26] France is still believed to possess three hundred AMLs in storage.[27]

Middle East

Plinthed Israeli AML-90 at Yad La-Shiryon.
Flat margin between an Egyptian T-54/55's turret and angled glacis, one of the few areas on the tank vulnerable to 90mm HEAT munitions.[19][28]

Israel

An order of 29 AML-90s placed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in 1960 marked the first sale of AMLs to a foreign power, ushered in a new era of French arms sales to Tel-Aviv, and helped cement Panhard's success on the export market.[29] The IDF armoured cars had been received by the end of 1963 and were first displayed publicly on the eve of Yom Ha'atzmaut, 1966.[30] Israeli units were primarily impressed by their high mobility and ergonomic nature, which was deemed ideal for airborne operations.[31] Nevertheless, the AML-90's envisaged deployment by new Aérospatiale SA 321 Super Frelons also purchased from France did not materialise, as the helicopters could not handle its 5,500 kg combat weight.[16]

At least 9 AML-90s were in service with the 41st Reconnaissance Company of the Harel Brigade during the Six Day War under a Major Amnon Eshkol, participating in the capture of Ramallah in June 1967.[32][33] The AMLs were initially posted at Mevaseret Zion following the fall of East Jerusalem. They were among the first IDF armor to cross into the West Bank during the conflict, probing for Jordanian resistance. Major roads had been blocked by tank barriers although these could be easily bypassed in nimbler armoured cars.[34] The much more cumbersome Super Sherman and Centurion tanks tasked with leading the IDF's spearhead towards Tell el-Ful failed to reach their objective; most were forced to turn back in the face of difficult terrain. Joined by the surviving seven Shermans and eight M3 half-tracks, Major Eshkol's AML-90s later helped defeat a Jordanian counterattack with M48 Pattons.[34]

In the War of Attrition, Israeli AMLs faced Jordanian M48s again on the Damia Bridge during the Battle of Karameh.[16] Originally tasked with screening the IDF Shermans as they crossed the bridge, the lightly armoured AML-90 was at a unique disadvantage when confronted by entrenched Pattons. Moreover, the Jordan River was in flood and vehicle crews were unable to exploit their manoeuvrability in the muddy farmland. Several AMLs were knocked out by tank fire or towed anti-tank guns. They were withdrawn from service not long afterwards.[16]

The Arab–Israeli conflict marked some of the highest armour-to-armour kill ratios achieved with the AML platform to date, including the destruction of at least 13 Egyptian and Jordanian tanks.[35] Especially notable were several T-54 kills credited to an AML-90 platoon in the Sinai Peninsula: as late as the 1980s, military scholars continued to maintain that the 90mm DEFA cannon lacked the muzzle velocity to penetrate the thick steel hull of a T-54/55.[19] More well-documented cases have since verified this was possible, though only with multiple shots or a direct hit on the turret rim near the driver's hatch.[19][36] Israeli AML crews also sustained losses of their own during this engagement,[35] and some AML-90s may have been captured intact by the Egyptian defenders.[37]

Saudi Arabia

In 1964, the Royal Saudi Army issued a requirement for an armoured car proven in desert warfare and equipped with a large semiautomatic cannon.[38] Bids were accepted from three companiesAlvis, Cadillac Gage, and Panhardwhich offered the Saladin, V-100 Commando, and AML, respectively, but the debate over which of the three to adopt was hamstrung by political considerations early on.[38] Saudi Arabia remained inhibited from seeking American assistance in devising suitable defence programmes by the criticism and hostility of other Arab states. Under these circumstances, only arms transactions with French or British firms could be entertained.[39] Despite longstanding diplomatic contacts, the French presence in Riyadh was rather limited compared to that of the United Kingdom, and the latter was in a better position to provide long-term logistical support for armoured cars to the Saudi military.[38] Alvis was initially awarded a contract for 83 Saladins with a ten year option on spare parts.[38] Final negotiations for the delivery of the Saladins were underway[38] when Sultan bin Abdulaziz abruptly cancelled the purchase in favour of Panhard.[40]

The $95 million Panhard deal proved instrumental in breaking existing preconceptions that the Arabian arms market was well protected by the UK. Gaullist circles heralded it as a major business and political success.[41] In an interview in Beirut, Sultan bin Abdulaziz merely asserted that AMLs were selected as part of King Faisal's policy to strengthen the army with a greater infusion of modern arms.[42] Saudi Army officials had preferred the heavier Saladin and appreciated its worthiness in desert conditions, but conceded the AML-90 was much cheaper.[40] Panhard undertook the order amid much protest by pro-Israel lobbyists in France, who urged restraint in shipping arms to Arab bloc states likely to use them against Tel-Aviv. The sale was also challenged as a violation of Charles de Gaulle's Middle Eastern embargo, although the French government insisted it did not classify armoured scout cars as the same "heavy war materiel" covered by sanctions.[41]

Saudi AML-90s of the 20th Armoured Brigade were blooded near Daraa during the Yom Kippur War, having been airlifted to assist its Syrian defenders in Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft loaned from Iran.[43] The airlift was carried out on October 14, 1973; six Iranian C-130s were needed to convey the vehicles and about 2,000 motorised infantrymen from Saudi Arabia to Syria. AML crews were generally assigned to static guard duty, patrolling the Damascus-Daraa road and keeping lines of communications clear between the multinational Arab forces.[43] At least one AML-90 was captured by the Golani Brigade, likely while attempting to reconnoiter an IDF position after dark.[44] The Saudi contingent later participated in the fighting at Tel Maschara alongside the Jordanian 40th Armoured Brigade. They were halted by accurate tank fire from the IDF's 17th Reserve Armour Brigade and later forced to retreat.[44] Four AML-90s were destroyed, presumably during this action, although the Saudis claimed to have also knocked out 5 Israeli tanks and damaged 5 more.[43]

Saudi Arabia ordered between 200 and 220[41] AMLs from France in 1968, with deliveries completed by 1970.[29] Some sources have claimed a second order was placed in 1978 for another 250.[45] The Saudi Army has since retired much of its Panhard fleet and exported surplus stocks to various nations.[30] During the Gulf War, an estimated 200 AML-90s were phased from service.[46] Upon learning that the Senegalese units participating in Operation Desert Shield were also familiar with the Panhard type, General Khalid bin Sultan ordered a number retained for their use. The armoured cars were hurriedly serviced, then donated to Senegal.[note 1] Large quantities were also accepted by Morocco and Niger.[30]

Lebanon

AML-90 of the Lebanese Army in Beirut, 1982.

At least 74 AML-90s were delivered to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) between 1970 and 1975, and saw considerable action in the Lebanese Civil War.[29] As their crews often left them unguarded outside army compounds, several may have been stolen by LAF deserters on their way to join regional militias.[47] Others vanished during the disintegration of individual battalions, and by 1981 Lebanon's fleet had dwindled to 52.[48] The surviving AML squadrons remained plagued by chronic shortages of personnel; some crews even fought in their turrets without a trained commander and depended on inexperienced spotters outside the vehicles to guide their fire. This resulted in phenomenal inaccuracy.[49]

Following the Battle of the Hotels, Lebanese Front troops in the Port District of Beirut brought their Panhards into action for the first time in the civil war, engaging Charioteer tank destroyers crewed by Amal and Lebanese Arab Army (LAA) militants. Having lost nearly all their heavy armour and tanks to the militias, the predominantly Christian remnants of the Lebanese Army appropriated three AML-90s and nine obsolete T17 Staghounds to stave off repeated assaults by LAA forces from the hotel district.[50] Due to the armoured cars' heightened vulnerability to RPG-7s, their crews began using debris as makeshift barricades. Muslim fighters failed in attempting to destroy the AMLs with RPGs, as well as B-10 and M40 recoilless rifles, since the projectiles lacked a clear trajectory in the rubble.[50] The AML-90s' immense firepower at close quarters soon resulted in great structural damage to portside Beirut; a number of fortified buildings were wrecked by 90mm HE shells, and those struck by multiple HEAT volleys demolished on their foundations. With truck-mounted ZU-23-2s covering their advance, the AMLs advanced on Allenby Street, flattening all resistance, and took the waterfront.[50] Although both the LAA and the leftist Lebanese National Movement hastily brought up Charioteers and M41 Walker Bulldog tanks, so much wreckage was blocking the streets they could not manoeuvre. It was impossible to shoot accurately through the debris, and tanks could only manage speculative fire to discourage the AMLs.[50]

In 1983, LAF tanks with AML-90s in support were sent to eliminate Amal militants then threatening elements of Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF) at the Lebanese University. Following the Siege of Beirut, the LAF again mobilised its AMLs to occupy positions vacated by withdrawing Israeli troops.[49]

Militia use

Panhard AMLs were favoured by the Lebanese militias due to their flexibility, especially in urban combat situations which saw them deployed against heavier Syrian armour.[51] A detailed analysis undertaken by the United States Army Research Laboratory in 1979 found the AML "operated effectively in Beirut" and noted that "the ease with which the Panhard is driven and repaired, and the absence of tracks, provide the mobility desirable in an urban environment."[50] Modifications to militia AMLs included replacement of the original Michelin tyres with an air-pocketed type more resistant to mortar shrapnel, as well as increased armour platefabricated after the appearance of Syrian tanks made it difficult ordering volunteers to man the lightly protected vehicles.[50]

Christian Phalangist militiamen deployed twelve AML-90s as assault guns during the Tel al-Zaatar massacre, using their elevated 90mm cannon to knock out second or third storey fortifications shielding Palestinian guerrillas.[50] AML-90s of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) also swung into action against five Staghounds of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces during a raid on Fayadiyeh barracks in mid 1976. The armoured cars were incompetently handled by the leftist forces, and later abandoned near Kahale with an AMX-13 due to mechanical problems.[50]

UNIFIL

In 1980, AMLs of the Irish Army were deployed with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), where they saw considerable action against militants at Atiri in South Lebanon. Each UN service battalion included a troop of AML-90s, ostensibly for passive reconnaissance, which functioned as a support company. As the most heavily armed of the national contingents, the Irish squadron also became a mobile force reserve.[52] Two Lebanese half-tracks used to harass UNIFIL convoys were destroyed by an AML-90, several others being abandoned by their crews after taking warning fire from the AMLs' coaxial machine guns.[53] The armoured cars also held a tense standoff with militia Super Shermans around Atiri, although the latter declined to intervene in the fighting and were ultimately not engaged by peacekeeping forces.[51] Two AML crew members received one of Ireland's highest military honours, the Military Medal for Gallantry, for their actions at Atiri.[54]

Iraqi AML-90 Lynx abandoned during Operation Desert Storm.

Iraq

In 1991, AML-90s were deployed, somewhat ineffectually, by Iraqi reconnaissance units against USMC and Saudi National Guard forces during the Battle of Khafji.[55]

South America

In the Falklands War, the Argentines deployed 12 AML-90s from Escuadron de Exploracion Caballeria Blindada 181 (181st Armoured Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron) and an unknown additional number from Escuadron de Exploracion Caballeria Blindada 10 near Port Stanley. During the Battle of Wireless Ridge the only armour versus armour engagement of the war was fought when these units encountered FV101 Scorpions and FV107 Scimitars of the Blues and Royals. The armoured cars were abandoned in Stanley after the conflict ended.[56]

At least one AML-90 was destroyed by FMLN insurgents with rifle grenades and an M67 recoilless rifle in the Salvadoran Civil War.[57]

Africa

During the Portuguese Colonial War, the Portuguese Army operated AML-60s in Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau. Approximately 50 were ordered in 1965 to replace the heavier Panhard EBR.[29] Severe maintenance problems were encountered in the corrosive African environment, and custom air intakes cannibalised from utility vehicles had to be installed accordingly.[58] Local engineers also copied several modifications applied to the Eland Mk7 for improved performance in this theater.[58] In Portuguese service, the AML-60 equipped reconnaissance platoons, mainly used in convoy escort.[59]

In 1987, during the Toyota War, FANT's use of swift wheeled vehicles, including AML-90s, allowed Chadian forces to break through combined arms formations and cause severe damage before the slower Libyan tanks could track or engage their targets. The Panhards, deployed in concert with MILAN missile teams at strategic hill junctures, frequently ambushed T-55s at a range of under three hundred metres.[60]

In mid-December 2010, AMLs manned by Laurent Gbagbo's supporters were used to intimidate Ivorian civilians in Abidjan and the western countryside.[61]

The Ecole de Formation et d'Application des Troupes Blindes, at Mbanza-Ngungu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was originally established by French Military Cooperation Mission to instruct African AML crews. Today, the academy can host 70 trainees; ten African armies are currently participating in the program.[62]

Variants

AML variants; US military recognition plate

All the versions have a common configuration: the driver is seated in front with a two-seater turret on top. There is a door on each side and the power unit in the back.

Operators

This section is about operators of the Panhard AML. For operators of the South African variant, see Eland Mk7.

Map of Panhard AML operators in blue, with former operators in red and operators of the related Eland Mk7 in teal
AML-90 in UN colours.

Current operators

Former Operators

In popular culture

The Panhard AML has made some major film appearances, most notably in The Living Daylights, when two Moroccan army AML-90s were mocked up as Soviet reconnaissance vehicles pursuing Afghan Mujahadeen. These examples included mounted RPK machine guns and communications not dissimilar to those in the BRDM-2.

AMLs were first portrayed in the 1973 French thriller The Day of the Jackal, and 1974 Italian war film While There's War There's Hope, which featured an AML-90 of the Portuguese Armed Forces during the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence.

Two AML-90s erroneously presented as German scout cars serving with the Afrika Korps appear in the 1984 French war film Les Morfalous.

Gallery

See also

Panhard series

Vehicles of comparable role, performance, and era

Notes and references

Annotations

  1. Per Khalid bin Sultan: I recalled we were phasing out of our armed forces over 200 French-built AML-90 Panhard armored fighting vehicles of a type with which the Senegalese were familiar. "How many can you make operational?" I asked. "As many as you want." "Fine. Hold on to them." In due course, we issued these vehicles to the Senegalese, and also to the contingents from Niger and Morocco, and at the end of the war, on Prince Sultan's instructions, we gave the armored cars to them in gratitude for their help.[46]

References

  1. Defence Update (International), 1984, Volume 1 Issue 48-58 p. 8.
  2. "Mobile firepower for contingency operations: Emerging concepts for US light armour forces" (PDF). Defense Technical Information Center. 1993-01-04. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 22, 2014. Retrieved 2015-08-18.
  3. Tony Cullens. The Encyclopedia of World Military Weapons (1988 ed.). Crescent Books. p. 96. ISBN 978-0517653418.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Christopher F. Foss. Jane's Tanks and Combat Vehicles Recognition Guide (2000 ed.). Harper Collins Publishers. p. 252. ISBN 978-0004724522.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Christopher F. Foss. Jane's World Armoured Fighting Vehicles (1976 ed.). Macdonald and Jane's Publishers Ltd. p. 133. ISBN 0-354-01022-0.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ogorkiewicz, R. M. AFV Weapons Profile 039 Panhard Armoured Cars (Windsor, Berks: Profile Publications).
  7. David Miller. Conflict Iraq: Weapons and Tactics of the US and Iraqi Forces (2003 ed.). Salamander Books, Ltd. p. 88. ISBN 0-7603-1592-2.
  8. Henk, Daniel. South Africa's armaments industry: continuity and change after a decade of majority rule (2006 ed.). University Press America. p. 164. ISBN 978-0761834823.
  9. Based on adding together all operators in the map and those listed below.
  10. 1 2 3 David Jordan. The History of the French Foreign Legion: From 1831 to Present Day (2005 ed.). Amber Books Ltd. pp. 181185. ISBN 1-59228-768-9.
  11. Christopher F. Foss. The illustrated encyclopedia of the world's tanks and fighting vehicles: a technical directory of major combat vehicles from World War I to the present day (1977 ed.). Chartwell Books. p. 93. ISBN 978-0890091456.
  12. Tokarev, Andrei; Shubin, Gennady. Bush War: The Road to Cuito Cuanavale : Soviet Soldiers' Accounts of the Angolan War (2011 ed.). Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd. pp. 128–130. ISBN 978-1-4314-0185-7.
  13. 1 2 Morse, Stan. Modern Light Tanks and Reconnaissance Vehicles. War Machine, 1983, Volume 2 Issue 19 p. 373-374.
  14. Ogorkiewicz, R. M. Design and development of fighting vehicles (1968 ed.). Macdonald Publishers. p. 181. ISBN 978-0356014616.
  15. 1 2 "L'AUTOMITRAILLEUSE LEGERE PANHARD". Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 Defence Update (International). Defence Update G.m.b.H., 1984, 1984-85 Volume Collected Issues 48-58.
  17. Bruce Quarry & Mike Spick. An Illustrated Guide to Tank Busters (1987 ed.). Prentice Hall Press. pp. 120–125. ISBN 978-0134511542.
  18. 1 2 3 Steenkamp, Willem (2006) [1985]. Borderstrike! South Africa into Angola. 1975-1980 (3rd ed.). Durban, South Africa: Just Done Productions Publishing (published 1 March 2006). ISBN 978-1-920169-00-8. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Mannall, David. Battle on the Lomba 1987: The Day a South African Armoured Battalion shattered Angola's Last Mechanized Offensive (2014 ed.). Helion and Company. pp. 4892. ISBN 978-1909982024.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 Automotive Industries. Philadelphia: Chilton Company, 1968, Volume 139 pp. 3941.
  21. 1 2 "Restoration of the Eland-60". French Army Reenactment Group (FARG). 2012-01-20. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Chant, Christopher (1987). A Compendium of Armaments and Military Hardware. New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 158–59. ISBN 0-7102-0720-4. OCLC 14965544.
  23. 1 2 Ayliffe-Jones, Noel. World tanks and reconnaissance vehicles since 1945 (1984 ed.). Hippocrene Books. pp. 8385. ISBN 978-0882549781.
  24. 1 2 3 4 Marzloff, Jean (July–August 1973). "Light Armored Units: The Quiet Revolution". Armor magazine (Fort Knox, Kentucky: US Army Armor Center): 7–8.
  25. Tom Cooper & Albert Grandolini. Libyan Air Wars: Part 1: 1973-1985 (2015 ed.). Helion & Co. Ltd. pp. 3937. ISBN 978-1909982390.
  26. Senat Avis: Premiere Session Ordinaire de 1986-1987 (Tome V)
  27. 1 2 "Quelques Idees, Plus Ou Moins Non-Conformistes, Sur Les Far/FDR". Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  28. Scholtz, Leopold (2013). The SADF in the Border War 1966-1989. Cape Town: Tafelberg. ISBN 978-0-624-05410-8.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 "Trade Registers". Armstrade.sipri.org. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
  30. 1 2 3 The Israel Digest of Press and Events in Israel and the Middle East. The Israel Digest, 1966, Collected Issues Volumes 9-10.
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