PARIS, July 8 (UPI) -- A consortium formed by Nexter Systems and Renault Trucks Defense has delivered the 500th armored infantry combat vehicle to the French military.
The vehicle, with the French acronym VBCI, was an eight-wheel all-terrain vehicle, a successor of the AMX 10P in production since 1973 and used by nine militaries.
The VBCI comes in two variants -- the command post variant, or VCP, and the infantry combat model, the VPC.
France's Directorate General of Armaments said the vehicle delivered -- one of 520 VCPs ordered -- is equipped with a 25mm gun turret and machine guns, and carries 11 troops. One-hundred-10 command post vehicles ordered from the consortium already have been delivered.
The VBCI has a top speed of about 56 mph and a range of more than 460 miles.
The VBCI was deployed to Afghanistan and Lebanon in 2010 and to Mali earlier this year.
Details of the contract under which the vehicle was produced and delivered were not revealed by the French agency.
