Panhard EBR

Panhard EBR
Type	Armoured car
Place of origin	France
Service history
Used by	French Army Indonesian Army Portuguese Army
Wars	Algerian War Portuguese Colonial War Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation
Production history
Number built	1200
Specifications
Weight	13 tonnes (14 short tons; 13 long tons)
Length	6.15 m (20 ft 2 in)
Width	2.42 m (7 ft 11 in)
Height	2.24 m (7 ft 4 in)
Crew	4
Main armament	90 mm or 75 mm gun
Secondary armament	3 x 7.5 mm MGs most common, sometimes 4 x 7.5 mm MGs
Engine	12-cylinder engine 200 hp
Suspension	8x8 wheel
Operational range	630 km (390 mi)
Speed	100 km/h (62 mph)

The Panhard EBR (Panhard Engin Blindé de Reconnaissance, French: Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle) is an armoured car designed by Panhard for the French Army and later used across the globe, notably by the French Army during the Algerian War and the Portuguese Army during the Portuguese Colonial War in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau.

The EBR is an 8x8 wheeled reconnaissance vehicle designed before the Second World War, but with production only commencing afterwards, with over 1200 vehicles being manufactured after 1954. While being lightly armoured, the EBR was armed with the 90 mm FL-11 or 75 mm cannon known as the FL-10 or L/48 in a novel oscillating turret and supported by up to four 7.5 mm machine guns, one co-axial, one operated by the driver, one by the co-driver and one by the commander, though the latter was not found on all EBRs. The EBR had a crew of four (including two in the turret), and was powered by a 200 hp (150 kW) 6 liter 12HD horizontally opposed air-cooled 12-cylinder engine (with dual carburetors and 6.6:1 compression, enabling it to run on low-octane petrol). Based on Panhard's two-cylinder automobile engine, it was mounted under the floor of the fighting compartment, which had the unfortunate effect of requiring the turret to be removed to conduct major engine repairs.

Designed in 1951 by Panhard, OBE used a symmetrical front and rear with two drivers positions. The EBR can reach speeds of 100 km/h (62 mph) on 14 in (36 cm)-wide, 24 in (61 cm)-diameter wheels with Michelin tyres and Veil-Picard tubes, which feature a series of nitrogen-filled cells, enabling them to absorb bullet hits and not go flat. The armoured hull is mounted on an 8-wheel drive, with 4 inner metal wheels, which can be raised for driving on the road. The four central wheels have aluminum rims with steel grousers, separated by rubber blocks; with all eight wheels deployed, ground pressure is only 0.7 kg (1.5 lb) per 1 cm² (0.16 in²).