RTD delivers heavy vehicles to French special forces

PARIS — French special forces received Feb. 1 the first units of an initial 25-strong batch of heavy vehicles developed and built by Renault Trucks Defense, the country's arms procurement office said.

"These vehicles are part of a first batch of 25 units intended to meet the most urgent requirements," the Direction Générale de l'Armement said in a Feb. 9 statement.

The Army special forces unit received four vehicles, and 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment paratroopers received a similar number, defense blog Le Mamouth reported. More deliveries in the near term are unlikely due to a lack of budget.

The Army special forces unit reportedly received four vehicles, and 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment paratroopers received a similar number.

Photo Credit: French Army

The DGA certified Jan. 30 the vehicles, which are intended to meet a strong need in overseas operations and replace a highly diverse vehicle fleet, the procurement office said.

"They are intended to improve the interoperability and performance of the vehicle park used by the Army, Air Force and Navy special forces," the DGA said. The vehicles were adapted and built by RTD, and tested and certified by the DGA in 13 months.

That is the first batch of the total 202 special forces heavy vehicles ordered Dec. 30, 2015, along with an order for 241 light vehicles.

RTD is the prime contractor and worked with its Panhard unit and Essonne Sécurité. Panhard is to design and build the light vehicle.

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