The ACMAT VLRA (Véhicule de Liaison de Reconnaissance et d'Appui or Liaison, Reconnaissance, and Support Vehicle), a tactical vehicle produced by

ACMAT ACMAT (''Ateliers de Construction Mécanique de L'Atlantique'', also known as ALM-ACMAT) () is a French company that has manufactured cross-country and tactical military vehicles since 1958. Known for their reliability, simplicity, ruggedness an ...

, was launched during 1967, it was characterised by its robustness. It could transport 2.5 tonnes of payload, a maximum range of 1,600 km and a water tank with a capacity of 200lt. Known for their reliability, simplicity, ruggedness and their 80% (over 3,500) 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.

Variants

ACMAT offers over 70 VLRA variants including the following: command car,

commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...

vehicle, police vehicles, personnel carriers, cargo carriers,

ambulance An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...

s, mortar carrier, weapons carriers, communications vehicles, cross country bus, wireless vehicle, workshops vehicles, vehicles with cranes, fire fighting vehicles, fluid carriers (water and/or

petroleum products Petroleum products are materials derived from crude oil (petroleum) as it is processed in oil refineries. Unlike petrochemicals, which are a collection of well-defined usually pure organic compounds, petroleum products are complex mixtures. Most ...

Semi-truck A semi-trailer truck (also known by a wide variety of other terms – see below) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer attaches to the tractor with a type of hitch called a ...

multiple rocket launcher A multiple rocket launcher (MRL) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is a type of rocket artillery system that contains multiple rocket launcher, launchers which are fixed to a single weapons platform, platform, and shoots its rocket (weapon ...

carriers,

dump truck A dump truck, known also as a dumping truck, dump lorry or dumper lorry or a dumper for short, is used for transporting materials (such as dirt, gravel, or demolition waste) for construction as well as coal. A typical dump truck is equipped ...

s and more. Options include: two or four doors, soft or hard top, manual or power steering, manual or

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (AT) or automatic gearbox is a multi-speed transmission (mechanics), transmission used in motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving conditions. The 1904 ...

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

right hand drive Left-hand traffic (LHT) and right-hand traffic (RHT) are the practices, in bidirectional traffic, of keeping to the left side or to the right side of the road, respectively. They are fundamental to traffic flow, and are sometimes called the ' ...

, heater, air conditioning, armoured or unarmoured, and NBC defence system.

Versions

4×4 logistics range

* TPK 420 VCT command and transmission station vehicle * TPK 436 SCM loading and handling vehicle with multifunction platform and hydraulic crane at the rear of the cabin (capacity 3,000 kg at 6.60 m - rotation 200°) * TPK 420 SL7 recovery vehicle with rapid intervention hydraulic excavator * TPK 425 SAM ambulance with van measuring 3.307 × 2.20 × 1.675 m (transports 4 injured people) * TPK 430 F van vehicle: maintenance workshop, mechanical or electrical repair, 1st and 2nd echelons, etc.; command post vehicle * TPK 432 SB all-road bus carrying 28 people (short chassis) or 34 people (long chassis) * TPK 433 SB bus command post or wounded transport version

6×6 range

* TPK 635 SL7 recovery vehicle * TPK 640 WRT vehicle Wrecker 5 t - Hydraulic crane 30 t/m * TPK 641 GBS tipper vehicle - Loading and handling crane 7.2 t/m

Light reconnaissance and support vehicle

* TPK 415 SM3/FSP patrol vehicle * TPK 420 SM3 VLRA TPK 420 STL multifunction vehicle. Flat platform 2.90 m long, folding and removable side panels * TPK PMB mortar carrier vehicle, firing on board * TPK 425 STL/SH multifunctional vehicle * TPK 436 STL/SH

Multi-function vehicle for transporting personnel and/or equipment

* TPK 640 SM3 personnel or material transport vehicle * TPK 640 CTL multi-function troop transport vehicle for 18 people. Weapon mounting capability, 12.7 mm mount, Milan, etc. * TPK 641 VPC 6-seater double cabin vehicle. Special AR platform supporting 20mm twin-tube cannon. Shooting on board the vehicle * TPK 650 SH/STL shelter door vehicle ACMAT

All-terrain semi-trailer and semi-trailer tractor vehicle 6×6

* TPK 635 TSR tractor vehicle semi-trailer * TPK 635 TSR 3 EC tractor vehicle with deep cabin SR 490 semi-trailer * TCM 420 BL6 armored reconnaissance and command liaison vehicle

Gallery

First Generation gallery File:French VLRA SS.11 platoon, 14th of July 1971.JPG, Five VLRA SS 11 missile launchers were put into service in the early 1970s in the

French Territory of the Afars and the Issas The French Territory of the Afars and the Issas (FTAI; ) was the name given to present-day Djibouti between 1967 and 1977, while it was still an Overseas territory (France), overseas territory of France. The area was formerly known as French Soma ...

. File:Fire brigades Bastille Day 2013 Paris t114630.jpg, VLRA used as a flag-carrying vehicle by the

Paris Fire Brigade The Paris Fire Brigade (, BSPP) is a French Army unit which serves as the primary fire and rescue service for Paris, the city's inner suburbs and certain sites of national strategic importance. The brigade's main area of responsibility is the ...

File:VLRA TPK 4 25 STL Pamela 009.JPG, VLRA TPK 425 Pamela for Mistral surface-to-air missile firing station. File:VLRA TPK 6.50 SH 009 FR.JPG, TPK 650 container carrier. File:2014-05-27 Camion ACMAT.jpg, Military truck ACMAT. File:Bastille Day 2014 Paris - Motorised troops 005.jpg, VLRA of Force Headquarters No. 1 at the

Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. It is referred to, both legally and commonly, as () in French, though ''la fête nationale'' is also u ...

parade on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. File:ACMAT VLRA 3648x2736.JPG, ACMAT VLRA at the War & Peace show 2010. File:ACMAT VLRA Thunderbird 1 2971x2232.JPG, ACMAT VLRA at ''War & Peace show'' 2010. File:ACMAT TPK 436 SH.jpg, ACMAT TPK 436 SH. File:ACMAT VLRA, (Véhicule Léger de Reconnaissance et d'Appui), photo-7.JPG, ACMAT VLRA. New Generation gallery (2009 redesign) File:Irish Army Ranger Wing ACMAT VLRA 1.jpg, Irish

Army Ranger Wing The Army Ranger Wing (ARW) (, "''SFA''") is the special forces, special operations force of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces, the military of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a branch of the Irish Army, it also selects pers ...

VLRA File:Integrated Safety and Security Exhibition 2012 (451-17).jpg, ACMAT TDE 4.36 CCF-L. File:Integrated Safety and Security Exhibition 2012 (451-16).jpg, ACMAT TDE 4.36 CCF-L. File:Integrated Safety and Security Exhibition 2013 (502-18).jpg, ACMAT 4.43 CCF.

Used by

Military users include: *

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

: In 1996, the British Army ordered twenty VLRA 4x4 TPK 420 STL2 as logistics vehicles for motorized patrols of the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

(SAS). They were used during an operation in Afghanistan in November 2001.Ultimate Risk, SAS contact Al Qaeda by Pan Macmillan, 2003, The only known photos of the VLRA in service with the SAS were published in the Raids magazine of October 2007. *

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

References

External links

Arquus Defence
(formerly Renault Trucks Defense) (Current official link) *