The French Procurement Agency (DGA) qualified the new version of Nexter‘s VBCI armored infantry combat vehicle in late September. .
Photo: Nexter
The new version has a gross vehicle weight of 32 tons, compared to the 29-ton original version. The increased weight enables the vehicle to confront the toughest threats in Army theaters of operations with improved protection against mines, IEDs, rockets and other weapons, and also preserves the vehicle’s ability to be upgraded and adapt to future needs.
The qualification is the result of tests to guarantee the safety and performance. For 18 months, the 32-ton prototypes cleared DGA’s obstacles and covered the special tracks in sandy, muddy rocky and snowy sites.
The VBCI has been proven in Afghanistan and Lebanon in 2010, Mali in early 2013 and in the Central African Republic in 2014. Each time the vehicle fulfilled its assigned missions, and troops were satisfied, DGA said.