Renault Sherpa Light | |
---|---|
![]() A Renault Light Scout APC on display. | |
Type | Light tactical vehicle |
Place of origin | France |
Service history | |
In service | 2006 - Present |
Used by | See Operators |
Production history | |
Designer | Renault |
Designed | 2006 - Present |
Manufacturer | Renault MACK Defense [1] |
Specifications | |
Mass | 7.7 to 9.8 t |
Length | 5,900 mm (232.3 in) |
Width | 2,200 mm (86.6 in) |
Height | 2,100 mm (82.7 in) |
Crew | 4 or 5 |
Armor | CEN 1063 and STANAG 4569 |
Main armament | up to 12.7 mm (machine gun) and 40mm (grenade launcher) |
Engine | Euro 3 or 5 215 hp (160 kW) |
Suspension | rigid axles |
Operational range | 800 to 900 km |
Speed | 110 to 120 km/h (68–75 mph) |
The Sherpa Light (former Sherpa 2/3) is a family of 4x4 tactical and light armored vehicles developed by French company Renault Trucks Defense (RTD). Available in unarmoured or armoured variants (ballistic, mine and IED kits), the Scout is ideally suited for tactical missions such as scouting, patrol, convoy escort and command and liaison. It is able to transport up to 4 or 5 soldiers or a total payload of up to 4 tonnes. [2]
Renault Trucks is a French commercial truck and military vehicle manufacturer with corporate headquarters at Saint-Priest near Lyon. Originally part of Renault, it has been owned by the Volvo Group, a Swedish multinational manufacturing company, since 2001.
The Sherpa family is available to customers in North America and Oceania via Mack Defense. [3] [4]
Mack Trucks, Inc., is an American truck manufacturing company and a former manufacturer of buses and trolley buses. Founded in 1900 as the Mack Brothers Company, it manufactured its first truck in 1907 and adopted its present name in 1922. Mack Trucks is a subsidiary of AB Volvo which purchased Mack along with Renault Trucks in 2000. After being founded in Brooklyn, New York, the company's headquarters were in Allentown, Pennsylvania, from 1905 to 2009 when they moved to Greensboro, North Carolina. The entire line of Mack products is still produced in Lower Macungie, Pennsylvania, with all powertrain produced in the Hagerstown, Maryland plant. They also have additional assembly plants in Pennsylvania, Australia, and Venezuela. There was also (previously) a Mack plant in Hayward, California and Oakville, Ontario, Canada.
The Sherpa 2/3 was officially unveiled to the public at Eurosatory 2006 in Paris. [5] [6] with first production models made in 2007. [7] [8] In 2010, it changed the name from Sherpa 2 and 3 to Light. [9] [10]
In October 26, 2011, Pindad showed off an Indonesian-made version of the Sherpa known as the Elang during a public exhibition event. [11] The vehicle was made in limited quantities and only used by the 201st/202nd Mechanized Infantry Battalions of the Indonesian Army. [11]
Mack Defense unveiled the Mack Sherpa Light Scout for the first time at the Association of the United States Army AUSA Annual Meeting & Exposition event in Washington DC. [12] In 2017, Mack promoted the Sherpa Special Forces variant at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference in Tampa, Florida. [13]
In 2015, Avibras unveiled the TUPI [14] 4x4 armored vehicle under cooperation between Avibras and Renault. [15] Based on the Sherpa Light Scout chassis, it is meant to be marketed to the Brazilian Army for a new Wheeled Multirole Light Armored Vehicle. [16] In the same year, MACK-made Sherpas were presented to the National Guard of Ukraine for potential purchases and evaluation. [17]
Avibras Indústria Aeroespacial is a diversified Brazilian company which designs, develops and manufactures defense products and services. Its range of products encompasses artillery and aircraft defense systems, rockets and missiles such as air-to-ground and surface-to-surface weapon systems, including artillery rocket systems; 70 mm air-to-ground systems and fiber optic multi-purpose guided missiles. It makes armoured vehicles as well.
The National Guard of Ukraine or NGU is the Ukrainian national gendarmerie. It is part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It was originally created as an agency under the direct control of the Ukrainian parliament on 4 November 1991, following Ukrainian independence. It was later disbanded and merged into the Internal Troops of Ukraine on 11 January 2000 by then President Leonid Kuchma, as part of a "cost-saving" scheme. Following the early 2014 Ukrainian revolution on 13 March 2014, amidst the Russian intervention, the National Guard was reestablished and the Internal Troops were disbanded.
In 2016, requirements from French Special Operations Command resulted in the development of the Poids Lourd Forces Spéciales for rapid response operations. [18] [19] The PLFS was first shown at the Eurosatory 2016 exhibit. [20] It was officially certified by the Direction générale de l'armement on January 31, 2017. [21]
After RTD was rebranded as Arquus on May 24, 2018, [22] research and development continued on the Sherpa led to the creation of the Sabre [23] as its first Arquus-branded product when it was unveiled at the 2019 Special Forces at the Defense Exhibition (SOFINS) exhibit. [24]
The following variants are made by Renault Trucks Defense, and later by Arquus. [25]
The Qatar Armed Forces are the military forces of Qatar. Since 2015, Qatar has implemented mandatory military conscription with an average of 2000 graduates per year. As of 2010, Qatar's defence expenditures added up to a total of $1.913 billion, about 1.5% of the national GDP, according to the SIPRI. Qatar has recently signed defence pacts with the United States in 2002 and 2013 and with the United Kingdom, as well as with France earlier, in 1994. Qatar plays an active role in the collective defense efforts of the Gulf Cooperation Council; the other five members are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, and Oman. Qatar also hosts the largest American military base in the Middle East and in 2017 inaugurated a military attache office in Washington.
The Véhicule de l'avant blindé or VAB is an armoured personnel carrier and support vehicle designed by the Euro Mobilité Division of GIAT Industries of France. It entered service in 1976; around 5,000 were produced.
ACMAT is a French manufacturer of cross-country and tactical military vehicles since 1958. Known for their reliability, simplicity, ruggedness and their 80% commonality of parts across the entire product line, these vehicles were originally targeted at African and Asian countries who could not afford more expensive vehicles. The ACMAT company built their vehicles based on standardisation, commonality of parts and components, and on interchangeability; parts are interchangeable with vehicles built 30 years ago. Parts commonality includes cabs, structural components, engines and drive trains. ACMAT uses many of the same parts for all of its line of vehicles. They even produce an armoured variant of both the 4x4 and 6x6 versions of the VLRA. ACMAT is a subsidiary of Arquus Defense, previously Renault Truck Defense, which since 22 May 2006 has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Renault Trucks.
Iron Fist is a hard-kill active protection system (APS) designed by Israel Military Industries (IMI), with a modular design allowing adaptation to a range of platforms ranging from light utility vehicles to heavy armoured fighting vehicles. The concept was revealed by IMI in 2006 and was expected to enter Israel Defense Forces tests by mid-2007. The system has been successfully tested against a wide variety of threats including rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank guided missiles and tank-fired HEAT ammunition and kinetic energy penetrators.
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The Petit Véhicule Protégé is a light, general-purpose armoured 4-wheel drive vehicle used by the French Army, made by Panhard. It is also designated as Auverland A4 AVL. Built by Auverland, it is one of the successors to the Peugeot P4. It is intended mostly as personnel carrier, weapon carrier, and for reconnaissance, detection and communications purposes.
The WZ-551 is a Chinese wheeled armored personnel carrier. It is actually consisted of two families of vehicles with official designations in the People's Liberation Army as Type 90 and Type 92. Roughly 900 WZ-551s are in service with the PLA, where they are used by light mechanized infantry units. WZ-551s have been exported to Algeria, Bosnia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and Senegal.
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