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AMX-10 RC

France will equip several battalions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with dozens of armored vehicles in the coming weeks, including AMX-10RC light wheeled tanks. This is stated in a joint statement by the Presidents of France and Ukraine following their meeting on 14 May 2023 at the Elysee Palace. “The military support provided by France to the defense of Ukraine since the beginning of the war continues, and new supplies are being prepared to constantly take into account the most urgent and urgent needs of Ukraine to strengthen its defense capability. In the coming weeks, France will train and equip several battalions with dozens of armored vehicles and light tanks, including AMX -10RC," reads the communiqué.

France is to send AMX-10 RC armored fighting vehicles to Ukraine following a call between the countries' presidents. "This is the first time that Western-made armored vehicles are being delivered in support of the Ukrainian army," a French official said. A French source said Paris could dispatch around 40 of the highly mobile AMX-10 RCs, which are wheeled rather than tracked but have a much heavier cannon typical of a tank.

The first batch of AMX-10 RC tanks arrived in Ukraine, some of them have already been sent to the combat zone. This was reported on 16 March 2023 by the newspaper Le Figaro, citing a statement by French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu. "The first AMX-10 RCs have recently arrived in Ukraine. <...> Some have already gone to the front line," the newspaper quoted the minister as saying during a meeting of the defense committee of the National Assembly (lower house of parliament) of France. The head of the defense department did not specify the number of vehicles sent to Kyiv, citing military secrets. "I am studying the issue of supplying the second batch. I will prepare a number of decisions for the President of the Republic, because these tanks are already at the disposal of our Ukrainian partners," he added.

As of 2021, the French ground forces have used a total of 245 AMX-10RCR units - this is the latest upgraded version with GPS communication, turret electrification and other improvements. The 17-ton combat vehicle was developed by the French company Nexter and was produced from 1976 to 1994. It is equipped with a 105 mm cannon and two twin 7.62 mm machine guns. Unlike the Leclerc main battle tank in service with the French Armed Forces, this vehicle has less protection and is intended primarily for reconnaissance operations.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a telephone conversation with French leader Emmanuel Macron on Jan. 4, followed by the announcement from the Elysée Palace that in response to Kyiv’s requests and needs, Paris decided to increase aid to Ukraine, “for the first time delivering French-made light combat tanks.” Zelenskyy thanked Macron in a post on Twitter "for the decision to transfer light tanks and Bastion APCs to Ukraine."

Macron had repeatedly riled his Ukrainian allies in the past as well as hawkish eastern European states over comments seen as focusing on diplomatic solutions to the conflict rather than Ukraine's efforts to repel Russia's occupying forces. In June 2022, he said "we must not humiliate Russia". In December, he called for Russia to be offered "security guarantees" at the end of the conflict.Macron had hardened his rhetoric against the Kremlin in recent weeks, however, accusing Putin of committing war crimes through his "cowardly" and "cynical" attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.

Paris had already delivered state-of-the-art artillery, armoured personnel carriers, anti-aircraft missiles and air-defence systems to Ukraine, but Macron has long been wary of antagonising Russia and breaking off diplomatic contact with Vladimir Putin. "The president wanted to increase... aid" to Ukraine "by accepting to deliver AMX-10 RC light tanks", an aide to the French leader told reporters on condition of anonymity after the call between Macron and Zelensky. "It is the first time that Western-designed tanks are supplied to the Ukrainian armed forces," he said.

“This is what gives a clear signal to all our other partners: there is no rational reason why Western-style tanks have not yet been supplied to Ukraine. And this is very important in order to restore security for all Ukrainians and peace for all Europeans,” said Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his evening address on Jan. 4. According to him, just before the new Ramstein meeting of Ukraine’s allies (expected in January), “such a signal is extremely relevant.”

“It is necessary to put an end to Russian aggression this year and not postpone any of those defense opportunities that can speed up the defeat of the terrorist state. Modern Western armored vehicles, Western-style tanks are just one of these key opportunities,” Zelenskyy said. These words were aimed primarily at Germany, a country that has so far firmly refused to hand over any of its powerful Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

The flurry of moves prompted the question of why such close European allies as Germany and France did not opt for a common approach to arming Ukraine. Domestically, Scholz had been the target of heckling – even from his own coalition partners – for taking his time on deciding to send tanks to Ukraine. “Other partner countries are once again leading the way. Now we can finally get started in the spirit of a Franco-German friendship, right? @Chancellor?,” Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the head of Germany’s parliamentary defence committee and a member of Scholz’s junior coalition partner Free Democrats (FDP), tweeted. “The ball is now in [Berlin’s court].”

Formally, the AMX-10RC is a French infantry fighting vehicle designed for reconnaissance in dangerous environments, which is also capable of providing fire support. The abbreviation RC stands for Roues-Canon ("gun on wheels"). The main caliber is represented by a 105 mm gun, paired with two 7.62 mm machine guns. The mass of the car is 17 tons, the crew is four people.

The French press clarified that the AMX-10RC armored vehicles are often called “wheeled tanks.” Not technically a "Tank” because it moves on wheels rather than tracks…it has armor, a cannon and two machine guns meaning it effectively functions as a light tank, no matter the semantics. Under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), Battle tanks are tracked, heavily armored vehicles weighing at least 16.5 metric tons and equipped with a 360-degree traverse turret and gun of at least 75 millimeters caliber. A small number of light tanks that do not conform to this definition are included in the Armored Combat Vehicle category. Vehicles with wheels rather than tracks, but which otherwise meet the criteria of a battle tank, are counted as tanks.

The AMX-10RC is a development from the 1970s, which arose against the background of attempts to replace the outdated EBR armored reconnaissance vehicle with more modern technology. The general director of the French company AMX-APX, which worked on a series of relevant programs, proposed to develop a wheeled version of the tracked infantry fighting vehicle of the 70s (AMX-10P), but to arm it with a 105-mm gun from another project that had been cancelled (IFV ERAC ).

The 17-ton combat vehicle was developed by the French company Nexter and was produced from 1976 to 1994. Currently, 248 tanks in service with France, according to the Ministry of the Armed Forces of the Republic, are gradually being replaced by new Jaguar combat reconnaissance vehicles from 2020.

The 6×6 AMX-10 RC armored vehicle is fitted with a hydropneumatic suspension system with variable ground clearance and tilt, which allows the combat vehicle to effectively hide in difficult terrain. It is armed with a 105/47 F2 MECA 105 mm medium-pressure gun, capable of firing at a range of up to 2,000 meters. The F2 cannon fires 105×527R proprietary ammunition, which includes armor-piercing discarding sabot (APDS), high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) and high-explosive incendiary (HE).

On January 12, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russia regards the plans of the French authorities to supply heavy armored vehicles to Ukraine as a rash and irresponsible step that contributes to further escalation.

France expects AMX-10 RC wheeled tanks to be delivered to Ukraine within two months. This is stated 13 January 2023 in a statement by the Ministry of the Armed Forces of the Republic, distributed following a telephone conversation between its head Sebastien Lecornu and his Ukrainian counterpart Alexei Reznikov.

"The ministers agreed that the delivery of French-made AMX-10 RC wheeled tanks, which was agreed by the Presidents of France and Ukraine Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Zelensky on January 4, will take place within two months," the statement said.

It noted that the ministers during a telephone conversation touched upon "the issues of training Ukrainian servicemen to handle these tanks." The heads of defense departments also "discussed the process of using the funds of a special fund of 200 million euros, which was created to enable Ukraine to supply itself with the necessary equipment," the French armed forces ministries said in a communiqué.Oleksii Reznikov expressed his gratitude to France for supporting Ukraine. “Had a fruitful conversation with my French friend Sébastien Lecornu. We thank France for its constant support of Ukraine and for the decision to provide the AMX-10 RC to the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the minister wrote on Twitter.

The AMX-10RC may become an Achilles' heel for the APU, causing logistical problems. The semi-automatic gun 105 F2 48 can fire various projectiles. However, they do not correspond to 105 mm shells that meet NATO standards: the gun only fires 105 mm ammunition of a certain type (105x527R). Therefore, the combat capabilities of these future Ukrainian vehicles will depend entirely on French military assistance.

Some Western experts were skeptical about Macron's promise to supply Kyiv with French armored cars. Their opinion was collected by The New York Times. Édouard Jolly, senior fellow at the Institute for Strategic Studies at the Military School in Paris, said the AMX-10 RC is "useful on the battlefield, but not a decisive weapon."

But the Armed Forces of Ukraine effectively used their fast "raider" groups on pickup trucks and light armor during the attack on Izyum. And now wheeled AMX will be able to go with these light units, which can significantly strengthen them. Wheeled vehicles have high speed and a large power reserve, which sometimes gives them a significant advantage over tracked ones. With well-thought-out tactics, this can provide superiority on the battlefield.

The first batch of French AMX-10 RC wheeled tanks for Ukraine is on its way and will arrive in the coming days. This was stated on 06 March 2023 by the head of the General Directorate for Armaments (DGA) under the Ministry of the French Armed Forces Emmanuel Shiva. "France has announced the delivery of AMX light tanks. They are in the process," he said on the air of the BFM Business TV channel , answering a journalist's question. According to Shiva, the cars will be delivered "in the coming days." He refused to name the exact amount of equipment supplied to Kyiv, saying that "this is classified information." At the same time, answering a question about the possibility of supplying more heavily armored vehicles, he noted that France's partners are doing this.

The Ukrainian military criticized the AMX-10 RC armored vehicles handed over by France for being too light armor, Agence France-Presse reported 02 July 2023. "They are used for fire support because of light armor. Their armament is good, their observation devices are good. But it is light armor that makes them unsuitable (for attack. - Approx. ed.)," the publication quotes the words of the commander of one from the battalions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the callsign Spartan.

"The shell exploded next to the car, fragments pierced the armor, and the ammunition detonated. <...> The crew of four <...> died," he said. The interlocutor of the agency also drew attention to the problems with the gearbox of the AMX-10 RC, which, in his opinion, is associated with movement on dirt roads. In addition, one month of training in France is not enough to fully master this armored car, Spartan added.