Panhard M3

History of the Panhard M3

Like many other low-risk light armored vehicles, the Panhard M3 was developed by the French company as a private enterprise to attract interest from the export market. This 4x4 wheel based compact vehicle has been a relative success, with more than 1,200 built and serviced worldwide. The M3 is still in service today (2017) and was not in service until the Yemeni Civil War (since 2015).

It has proven itself as both a military and safety-oriented vehicle.

Panhard M3 development and production

A pilot model (prototype) appeared in 1969 and underwent the usual testing and certification before production began in 1971. To control costs and maintain logistics friendliness with other Panhard products, the M3 forgoes up to 95% parts commonality with Panhard AML vehicles (detailed elsewhere on this page).

Production spanned from 1971 to 1986, and soon a large number of foreign operators emerged - from Abu Dhabi and Algeria to Togo and Yemen. Customers are mainly concentrated on the African continent, where vehicles have proven to be versatile, inexpensive and easy to maintain.

M3 Tour

The M3 features an all-welded steel hull structure to prevent small arms fire. The basic crew consists of two people, but plans to transport ten more in the cabin. Access to the vehicle is via a set of gullwing doors located on the side (single door) and aft (double door). The driver sitting in the center of the bow received a special access hatch. The vehicle commander took the middle position and received its own roof hatch.

This location was sometimes equipped with a full turret, armed with weapons or trunnion-mounted machine guns as required. There are also smaller hatches on the side roofline, allowing occupants to party with the outside world with their personal pistols.

Armor protection reaches between 8mm and 12mm on different fairings.

Armed

Weapon customization is variable and largely depends on customer needs/requirements. In one version the vehicle has a twin turret with 2 x 7.62mm FN MAG machine guns, while the other has a 7.62mm machine gun but with 3 x LRAC F1 anti-tank rocket launchers (another on this page Detailed Description). ). A simple ring is sometimes substituted for a full-fledged electric turret, in which case the turret can hold a 7.62mm or 12.7mm machine gun or a 20mm automatic cannon. The other version has a 20mm automatic cannon in a closed turret.

The anti-tank version of the vehicle is equipped with 4 x HOT anti-tank missiles (ATGM) for tank killing effect, and the anti-aircraft counterpart (M3 VDA) is equipped with 2 x 20mm automatic cannons for airspace denial effect. A 7.62mm auxiliary machine gun can also be mounted on the rear hull of the vehicle to protect the vehicle's "six" from oncoming hazards.

Specification

The vehicle gets decent ground clearance for its role, around 14 inches. The tires were well distributed around every corner of the hull and a spare was brought to the starboard side of the hull wall. Power comes from a 90-horsepower Panhard 4HD engine. This enables the vehicle to achieve a road speed of 56 mph within a range of 370 miles.

Structurally, M3 is 4.4 meters long, 2.4 meters wide and 2.4 meters high. Its weight is 6 tons.

Combat Missions

The M3 served in conflicts in the second half of the 20th century, including the Second Malayan Emergency (1968-1989), the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), the Angola Civil War (1975-2002), the Iran-Iraq War ( 1980-1988), Gulf War (1991), Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2011), subsequent Iraqi Civil War (since 2014) and Yemeni Civil War (since 2015), to name a few.

Panhard M3 Variant

Major variants include M3 VTT Personnel Carrier, M3 VDA Anti-Aircraft Vehicle, M3 VAT Maintenance Platform, M3 VPC Command Vehicle, M3 VLA Engineering Vehicle, M3 VTS Battlefield Ambulance and M3 VSB Radar Transporter. The M3 VPM has a turret mounted 81mm field mortar and the M3 VTT 60B ??uses a 60mm CM60A1 mortar. The Saymar M3 APC is an Israeli modified model.

The Irish Army upgraded their M3 to a 140 hp Peugeot V6 petrol engine in the mid-1980s. At least 14 met this standard (about 44 M3 cars in total).

Former operators of the Panhard M3 include Angola, Ireland, Malaysia, Portugal, Spain and South Africa.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Performance

Armor

Depends on weapon.

Changes