The Swedish BvS10 Mk II in the French service. An original ski lift for the Chasseurs Alpins
The VHM (Véhicules Haute Mobilité, High Mobility Vehicles) is the French version of the BvS10 Mk II (Bandvagn 210 Mk II), designed and produced by the Swedish company Hägglunds AB, a subsidiary of the BAE Systems, which also sold it in the United Kingdom, United States, Netherlands, Austria and Sweden, 48 were donated to Ukraine by the Netherlands and UK, and they are, since 2024, partially produced in the Czech Republic by the Tatra Defence Vehicle.
VHM/BvS10 Mk II is a tracked, armoured, articulated, amphibious and air-transportable vehicle. The aim of the initial French acquisition was to replace the Véhicules Articulés Chenillés (VAC, the older Bv 206 and Bv 206S in French service) then used by the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade (BIM) and the legionnaires of the 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment (REI). The first examples of 53 ordered units were delivered to the French Army in January 2012. For the troops of the 27th brigade, the VHM optimises its troop transport capabilities. An entire company of soldiers on skis can be towed without difficulty: this armoured vehicle acts as a rather original ski lift.
Véhicules Haute Mobilité – BvS10 Mk II
VHM is a 14-tonne tracked vehicle made up of two articulated parts, an architecture that allows it to progress over terrain inaccessible to wheeled vehicles. The whole vehicle is 7.7 metres long, 2.25 metres high and 2.2 metres wide. The VHM is armoured and offers protection against small and medium-calibre ammunition, armour-piercing ammunition, shell fragments and rockets, as well as anti-personnel mines (not anti-tank mines), IEDs, etc. The 15.5-tonne vehicle has a payload capacity of 2,240 kg: 630 kg in the front module and 1,610 kg in the rear module.
The front module is for the driver and vehicle manager; there are two seats in the rear. The second module can accommodate eight men. In total the VHM can carry up to 12 infantrymen with their individual and collective weaponry (including Eryx and Milan missiles, AT4CS rockets, 81mm mortar, sniper rifles), radios and operational information systems in service with the forces. In addition to its basic version for troop transport, the vehicle exists in two other variants: Command Post (VHM PC) with dedicated equipment in the rear module and Logistics (VHM Log), with a removable flatbed for the transport of various materials.
The engine is a 6.7 litre, 6-cylinder in-line Cummins diesel developing 210 kW/285 hp/970 Nm. It is coupled to an Allison automatic gearbox with 6 forward and 1 reverse gears, giving the vehicle a maximum speed of 70 km/h on the road. The range is approximately 350 km on the road. In off-road conditions, it can only be estimated according to the environment and can reach about 200 km. The vehicle is also extremely manoeuvrable. The vehicle is capable of fording a 1-metre-wide stream and travelling on slopes greater than 80%, with a maximum gradient of 30%.
Before the first French vehicles were received by the Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) in November 2011, the VHM had been qualified after 8 months of intensive testing, with the vehicle being tested on different terrains, particularly on surfaces with low load-bearing capacity such as snow, sand or swamps. The French Panhard worked as a subcontractor of Hägglunds AB. In particular, the French company was responsible for all the integration of equipment specific to the French Army, such as the weapons, radios, information systems, etc.
The French VHMs were deployed to Lithuania, as part of the Lynx mission, conducted as part of the reassurance measures decided by NATO for the benefit of the Baltic States and Poland. And also in the rigours conditions of the Sahelo-Saharan strip. Their capabilities did not disappoint because these vehicles can transport soldiers and equipment to areas inaccessible to wheeled armour. This is thanks to their wide tracks, which are particularly well suited to the desert as they give them significant lift on the sand. And it is also suitable for the swamps of the Guyanese jungle.
A handy asset for landing operations
The vehicles are also capable of deployment during landing operations. It has been tested back in 2013, in particular on the Tonnerre projection and command vessel of the Mistral class. The vehicles were deployed on the beach by a fast amphibious landing craft (EDAR) and equipment transport barges (CTM). The particularity of this exercise was that the VHM was not only beached, like other army vehicles, by the navy's landing craft, but it was also launched about a hundred metres from the beach. The VHM is, in fact, an amphibious vehicle, designed to be able to float and move in an aquatic environment. For operations of this type, the vehicle operates in a sealed situation and is equipped with floats, its tracks churning the water in order to move it forward at a low speed (3 to 4 km/h). The VHM can thus navigate for more than 300 metres.
For the French Army, this capability completed the range of means available for an amphibious operation. The target beach, first inspected by reconnaissance teams, the landing assistance and lighting sections (SAED) of the amphibious regiments, must be prepared before the combat vehicles arrive. The engineering troops are therefore the first to land their equipment. In particular, they are responsible for installing large wire mesh on the sand, over which the armoured vehicles and lorries will drive when leaving the EDAR and CTM. A wire mesh pathway prevents them from getting stuck.
With the VHM, the landing force is able to launch a direct force action thanks to its amphibious armoured vehicles. The VHMs do not need a prepared beach to land. Their caterpillar tracks are specially designed for use on all types of terrain, including, as mentioned, sand. With a reinforced and curved structure on the lower part, these vehicles are also capable of resisting mines and improvised explosive devices. They can therefore transport an assault group directly to a beach, charged with taking control of the area and covering the engineering preparations for the arrival of heavier means.
