Petit Véhicule Protégé

Petit Véhicule Protégé
PVP on display at an open door day of the 18ème Régiment de Transmissions (18th Signal Rgt), on 15 June 2009
Type	Light armoured vehicle
Place of origin	France
Service history
Used by	See Operators
Production history
Manufacturer	Panhard
Unit cost	€167,000(FY 2012)
Produced	2008–2012
No. built	1133
Variants	See Variants
Specifications
Weight	4,390 kg
Length	4,599 mm
Width	2,277 mm
Height	2,170 mm
Crew	2 to 4
Armour	STANAG 4569 (6 to 10 mm)
Main armament	Medium machine gun
Engine	IVECO 8140 2.8litre turbo-diesel 160 hp ( kW)
Power/weight	34 hp/tonne
Suspension	Wheeled 4 x 4
Operational range	800 km
Speed	120 km/h

The Petit Véhicule Protégé ("Small Protected vehicle") is a light, general-purpose armoured 4-wheel drive vehicle used by the French Army, made by Panhard. It is also designated as Auverland A4 AVL (Armoured Vehicle Light). Built by Auverland, it is the successor to the Peugeot P4. It is intended mostly as personnel carrier, weapon carrier, and for reconnaissance, detection and communications purposes.

In 2004, the first batch of 314 vehicles was ordered. The first vehicles were delivered in February 2008 and production ended in July 2012. 100 vehicles will be fitted with the WASP light RWS. It is expected that the French DGA will order an additional 300 PVP vehicles. The 2009-14 military budget originally called for a total of 1500 PVPs, but this was reduced to 1233 in 2010 and 1133 in 2012. In the end 1073 were delivered to the Army at a total cost of €242.7m (~US$325m) for a unit cost of €167,000 (~US$220,000), or €226,000 (~US$300,000) including development costs.

The PVP is modular, allowing extra seats to be added for more personnel, or to be used as a light truck. The armour, made of steel and aluminium, offers level 2 protection (STANAG 4569) for the crew and the engine. The floor is protected against antipersonnel mines (type DM 31).