Panhard presents the CRAB, new armored reconnaissance

The French company Panhard presented for the first time at Eurosatory an armored vehicle of a new type, the CRAB (Reconnaissance Armoured Combat Buggy) pick up three men for reconnaissance missions in urban or heavily defended. Protection of the crew has been particularly studied, since the carrier is designed as a survival cell.

For technicians, the armor is level 2-4 Stanag 4569 and protection against mines meets the standard 2/3 Stanag 4569. Superinformatisé and equipped with optronic and screens to three places, the CRAB has year teleoperated main armament, therefore usable from inside the vehicle. The "vetronics" (electronics in the vehicle) and the combat system supplied by Thales and the CRAB integrates with networks Felin infantry.

Moreover, the CRAB is designed to quickly escape from stressful situations. It can travel at the same speed in forward or backward. In the latter case, the driver does not change position, but these are cameras that show the route on the screens of his dashboard. Equipped with permanent 4x4 drive, the CRAB has two steering axles allowing it to shine on a minimum radius (10 meters) and move sideways. Its height is low, its weight is from eight to ten tons according to the weapons load (machine gun from 7.62 mm to 30 mm cannon), Panhard has chosen to present at Eurosatory with a remote-controlled turret of 25 mm from the Belgian group CMI ( Cockerill Maintenance & Engineering ).

Real ambitions

The CRAB was designed from its own funds by Panhard and currently has no sales contract.Nevertheless, this industry initiative has real ambitions, both for the French army and export. In his presentation to the press, Panhard explicitly fulfill the specifications of the future armored vehicle's aid commitment (VBAE), successor to the LAV in platoons of the armored cavalry.

Rider himself, General Vincent Desportes, advisor to the CEO of Panhard Jean Mons, states that the ambitions are more important, however. "The few ambitions VBAE feeds beside the simple replacement of the LAV, which today are the eyes and ears of Leclerc and AMX10RC. The" aid commitment "might go a step further and integrate a function" firing beyond the line of sight "(TAVD) that will ultimately not only EBRC. It is in this spirit of modular platform that CRAB was imagined."

The EBRC (armored vehicle for reconnaissance and combat) is an appliance which the French army plans to purchase 70 copies by 2021 in Phase 1 of the Scorpion program providing for the acquisition of further VBMR miles (multirole armored vehicle ). The development phase of Scorpio was launched at the ministerial committee Investment (CMI) of 22 February 2010, and lasted until 2013. However, it is likely that these programs will be fully reviewed during future military planning law and that their future is far from assured.

Panhard but does not count only on the French market. Long big exporter of armored equipment, the firm also seeks the replacement of thousands of vehicles in service in foreign armies, whether its AML 60 and AML 90 , the ERC 90 Sagaie / Lynx , the EE-9 Cascavel Brazil, the FV101 Scorpion British, orV150 Cadillac Cage Commando American. The author of these lines would have made ​​a bad spy!During a visit at Panhard a year ago, a brief presentation of the buggy had occurred, but the firm had not accepted any photo. Memory, a drawing was made, which is ultimately not very like !