In early April Nexter organised a three-day demonstration of its Philoctetes 8×8 infantry fighting vehicle on the French Army training area of Canjuers, in south-eastern France. The event saw the participation of representatives of the Greek Army, who were also able to discuss with French Army personnel who took part in operations in numerous missions with the VBCI Mk1, from which the Philoctetes is derived. With 630 VBCI Mk1 delivered to the French Army, the vehicle has been deployed in operation since 2010 and saw action in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Central Africa and Mali, the last VBCI deployed having been repatriated to France in 2021. The Philoctetes leverages most of the Lessons Learned in those operations, and at Canjuers it performed shooting sessions both static and on the move with the CTAI 40 cannon using 40 mm telescoped ammunition, fitted to the T40 turret, as well as mobility demonstration exploiting the various types of terrain available at the training area. Mobility, protection, modularity and firepower issues were extensively discussed during the three-day event allowing the Greek Army to acquire all information needed.
In Europe, Patria owns the wheeled vehicle market with Iveco doing alot of great work too. In my opinion the VBCI is seriously underrated. Don't know why but it should get a ton more orders than its gotten.
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