ACMAT Bastion | |
---|---|
![]() A MINUSMA Bastion APC in Northern Mali, 2015 | |
Type | Armoured personnel carrier |
Place of origin | France |
Service history | |
In service | 2012–present |
Wars | |
Production history | |
Designer | ACMAT |
Manufacturer | |
Variants |
|
Specifications | |
Mass | 12,000 kilograms (26,000 lb) [4] |
Length | 6 m (19 ft 8 in) [4] |
Width | 2.2 m (7 ft 3 in) [4] |
Height | 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) [4] |
Crew | 2 |
Passengers | 8–10 |
Armour | STANAG 4569 level 1 to level 3 [4] |
Main armament | 7.62 mm or 12.7 mm ring or remote control turret [5] |
Engine | 180 hp (130 kW; 180 PS) 450 pound-feet (610 N⋅m) |
Suspension | wheeled |
Operational range | 1,400 km (870 mi) [6] |
Maximum speed | 110 km/h (68 mph) [4] |
The ACMAT Bastion is a modern French armoured personnel carrier, manufactured by ACMAT.
The Bastion was available to customers in North America and Oceania via Mack Defense. [7] [8] As of 2021, AM General is making the Bastion. [3]
Its chassis is based on the ACMAT VLRA. [4] In 2018, Arquus, owner of ACMAT, signed a contract with AM General to propose the Bastion as an armored ambulance for the U.S. Army. [6]
The Bastion PATSAS (PATrouille SAS) is a variant designed for special forces. [6] It is lighter (10 tonnes) and carries 5 equipped soldiers. It is armed with a 12.7mm heavy machine gun and can carry 3 additional medium machine guns. [9]
The Fortress, formerly Bastion HM (High Mobility), is an up-armored Bastion, with a more powerful motor (340 hp) and an independent suspension to improve its mobility. [10] It exists in two versions, APC and armored logistic vehicle. [11]
The Chadian détachement d'action rapide (rapid action detachment) used the Bastion PATSAS during the 2013 intervention in Mali. [12] The Chadian Army also fielded Bastions during the 2015 intervention against Boko Haram in Far North Cameroon and Nigeria. [13]
The Cameroonian Bastion APCs, nicknamed as Cyclones, have been deployed in Northern Cameroon with the Battalion d'intervention rapide elite force. [1]
Burkina Faso deployed its Bastions in peacekeeping operations in Northern Mali, under the MINUSMA banner. [14] They have also been used in internal security missions, Bastion PATSAS being for instance fielded by the regiment de sécurité présidentielle before its disbandment in 2015. [15] One Bastion was destroyed by Ansar ul Islam in the 2016 Nassoumbou attack. [16]
In Mali, the 134th Escadron de Reconnaissance (Recce Squadron) was trained to operate the Bastion APC by the EUTM Mali. [17]
In 2015, the United States Department of Defense bought 62 Bastion APC variants commercialised by Mack Trucks to supply various African forces, some of them, such as Uganda, being involved in AMISOM. [6]
Some of the Saudi Arabian Bastion PATSAS were reportedly used in the intervention in Yemen. [18]
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