Big Bang Ricochet 012: Frances Panhard VBL (d20)
Last issue covered one of two vehicles that competed for a contract with the French military in the mid-80's. This issue¸ we cover the winner. The VBL is manufactured by Panhard¸ France's oldest surviving military manufacturer. The VBL is a rugged offroad vehicle¸ considered by most to be as capable offroad as a Hummer. Styled as a cross between a van and an SUV¸ the VBL is also capable of meeting a wide variety of tasks. Initially¸ it was developed to operate as a HUMINT reconnaissance vehicle and a tank hunter armed with the Milan ATGM¸ but it has long since been adapted to numerous other roles¸ including command post vehicles¸ APCs¸ air defense missile launchers¸ NBC recon vehicles¸ numerous types of ELINT reconnaissance vehicles¸ anti-personnel vehicles¸ additional types of tank hunters¸ and even a light wheeled "tank" outfitted with a 20mm cannon. Along with detailing 18 versions of the vehicle and providing game statistics for 15 of them¸ this issue also provides full entries for the FLY-K Silent Grenade Launcher System¸ LRAC 89 Anti-Tank Rocket Launcher¸ and Mistral Air Defense Missile System¸ for a total of 24 weapons¸ variants and ammunition types covered. Need to catch up on your military acronyms? HUMINT: HUMan (gathered) INTelligence ELINT: ELectronic (gathered) INTelligence APC: Armored Personnel Carrier NBC: Nuclear¸ Biological & Chemical. Some use CBR (Chemical¸ Biological & Radiological) in its place.