ACMAT Bastion

Last updated
ACMAT Bastion
MINUSMA Goundam 2015.jpg
A MINUSMA Bastion APC in Northern Mali, 2015
Type Armoured personnel carrier
Place of originFrance
Service history
In service2012–present
Wars
Production history
Designer ACMAT
Manufacturer
  • ACMAT (Former, France) [1]
  • Renault Truck Defense (Former, France) [1]
  • Arquus (Current, France) [1]
  • MACK Defense (Former, USA) [2] [ better source needed ]
  • AM General (Current, USA) [3]
Variants
  • Bastion
  • PATSAS
  • Fortress
Specifications
Mass12 tonnes [4]
Length6 m (19 ft 8 in) [4]
Width2.2 m (7 ft 3 in) [4]
Height2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) [4]
Crew2
Passengers8–10

Armour STANAG 4569 level 1 to level 3 [4]
Main
armament
7.62 mm or 12.7 mm ring or remote control turret [5]
Engine180 hp (130 kW)
Suspensionwheeled
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.

Contents

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]

Design

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]

Bastion PATSAS

A Bastion PATSAS of the Regiment of Presidential Security (left) during the 2015 Burkinabe coup d'etat. RSP soldiers during the 2015 Burkinabe coup.png
A Bastion PATSAS of the Regiment of Presidential Security (left) during the 2015 Burkinabé coup d'état.

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]

Fortress

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]

Service history

A Bastion APC of the loyalist National Gendarmerie during the 2015 Burkinabe coup d'etat. Soldat burkinabe devant le palais presidentiel, Ouagadougou.jpg
A Bastion APC of the loyalist National Gendarmerie during the 2015 Burkinabé coup d'état.

West Africa

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]

East Africa

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]

Arabian Peninsula

Some of the Saudi Arabian Bastion PATSAS were reportedly used in the intervention in Yemen. [18]

Operators

Several Bastion APCs during the Eagle Partner joint Armenia-U.S. exercise in July 2024 Armenian Bastion APCs in Eagle Partner 2024.2.jpg
Several Bastion APCs during the Eagle Partner joint Armenia-U.S. exercise in July 2024
Mack Bastion APCs being delivered to the Ugandan contingent of the AMISOM, 2017. Mack Bastion APC UPDF.jpg
Mack Bastion APCs being delivered to the Ugandan contingent of the AMISOM, 2017.

Evaluation only

Potential user

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References

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