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- France is reportedly contemplating sending AMX-10P amphibious infantry combating automobiles to Ukraine.
- France has already despatched its AMX-10RC armored car to Ukraine, amongst different navy hardware.
- The AMX-10P could have some utility nevertheless it's unclear what number of France has or what situation they're in.
France could ship Ukraine its AMX-10Ps, an amphibious infantry combating automobiles that the French navy took out of service almost a decade in the past.
Whereas the switch is not confirmed, the report raises questions on what number of can be found and their mechanical situation.
The potential arms sale was first reported on Twitter in February by French protection journalist Jean-Dominique Merchet and later picked up by the Ukrainian Ministry of Protection.
France could ship 25 AMX-10Ps, Merchet stated. Paris has already despatched its Caesar 155 mm self-propelled howitzer and its AMX-10RC armored automobile. The AMX-10RC's heavy cannon and light-weight design has led some to name it a "little bit of an oddity."
French troopers follow taking pictures an AMX-10RC in Afghanistan in September 2010.
JOEL SAGET/AFP through Getty Pictures
The AMX-10P first appeared in 1968 and went into manufacturing in 1973. It was one among a brand new technology of infantry combating automobiles — such because the US's M2 Bradley and the Soviets' BMP — that changed frivolously armed armored personnel carriers within the Seventies.
The AMX-10P's absolutely amphibious functionality set it other than its US and Soviet counterparts, which want slight changes to function in water, and it may show helpful for crossing Ukraine's many rivers.
The AMX-10P is a roughly 15-ton tracked car with a crew of three — commander, driver, and gunner — in addition to room for eight infantry. Whereas it got here in 15 variations, the essential mannequin utilized by the French Military has a turret with a 20 mm cannon and might journey 40 mph. Some variants had been armed with a 90 mm gun, Milan and HOT anti-tank missiles, or a 120 mm mortar, and different fashions had been designed for command, ahead observer, and radar operations.
The AMX-10P weighs about half the burden of a 27-ton Bradley. One motive for which may be the AMX-10P's welded aluminum armor, which is lower than an inch thick on the entrance hull and thinner elsewhere. That may defend in opposition to shrapnel, small-arms hearth, and light-weight cannon rounds however not anti-tank shells and rockets.
Troops exit an AMX-10P armored car in France
KEYSTONE-FRANCE/Gamma-Rapho through Getty Pictures
About 2,000 AMX-10Ps had been manufactured between 1973 and 1985. Along with France, the AMX-10P has been utilized by 9 nations, together with Greece, Iraq, and Singapore.
Just a few AMX-10Ps had been upgraded with additional armor and higher gearboxes within the 2000s, however the car has been changed in French service by the 25-ton VBCI — an eight-wheeled, 25-ton infantry combating car much like the US's Stryker and the wheeled VBMR Griffon.
French armor officers thought-about the AMX-10P to be "very sturdy," Léo Péria-Peigné, a protection skilled on the French Institute of Worldwide Relations, advised Insider, calling it "quite simple, fairly environment friendly."
Nonetheless, by the point the AMX-10P was retired, the automobiles "had been fairly drained," Péria-Peigné stated. Certainly, he was shocked to study that there have been any out there to be despatched to Ukraine: "In France, when a car is retired or changed, it does not exist anymore."
That raises questions in regards to the situation of the remaining AMX-10Ps. Ukraine should already deal with a garage-sale assortment of donated armored automobiles from quite a few nations.
A French AMX-10P enters a UNIFIL base in southern Lebanon in September 2006.
THOMAS COEX/AFP through Getty Pictures
Spain is sending 10 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine — however they're in such poor situation that the Spanish authorities is spending hundreds of thousands to refurbish them. Germany will promote 88 Leopard 1 tanks — which debuted in 1965 — however additionally they want refurbishment.
This means that it could be some time earlier than Ukraine will get any AMX-10Ps. Whereas Kyiv is joyful to get no matter armor it will possibly, this might be yet one more car that Ukrainian troops should study to function, restore, and provide — whereas the AMX-10P and AMX-10RC share some automotive parts, they don't seem to be associated.
Nonetheless, the AMX-10P can be a welcome addition to Ukraine's navy, although not an important one. It's moderately quick and it's a light-weight tracked car, which ought to allow it to traverse smaller bridges and gentle terrain.
It is usually comparatively straightforward to study and function, Péria-Peigné stated, describing it as "less complicated than most fashionable" infantry combating automobiles. As Ukraine struggles to assimilate a plethora of Western arms shortly, an outdated however easy armored car could also be ok.
Michael Peck is a protection author whose work has appeared in Forbes, Protection Information, International Coverage journal, and different publications. He holds a grasp's in political science. Comply with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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