The AMX-10RC light-wheeled tank is likely to receive French aid to Ukraine when they are about to be fully retired.
The AMX-10RC light wheeled tank has been expressed interest and desire by the Ukrainian Army after France intends to eliminate all armored vehicles of this type in the near future.
According to the announcement, the French Army is actively decommissioning the old generation AMX-10RC wheeled reconnaissance armored vehicles, notably this tank is also classified as a light tank when carrying 105 mm cannon.
For example, in the 1st Cavalry Regiment of the Foreign Legion, the AMX-10RCs were completely replaced by the EBRC Jaguar, the French Ministry of Defense briefly announced that from now on legionnaires would fly the armored line new generation.
Interestingly, the transition to a new armored vehicle took more than a year, because training to operate a Jaguar in the French Foreign Legion began last June.
Paris has committed to completely decommissioning AMX-10RC armored personnel carriers and VAB armored personnel carriers in all units of the Scorpion program in the near future.
The next issue to consider is that French-aided weapons are quite widely present in the combat composition of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, from modern CAESAR 155 mm self-propelled guns to antique VAB armored vehicles. dictionary.
Currently, receiving the AMX-10RC is an aspiration proposed by the Ukrainian Army. Although this 16.6-ton wheeled armored vehicle was designated a “reconnaissance vehicle”, the fact that the 105mm gun allowed it to be classified as a wheeled tank.
However, despite its 105 mm caliber, the F2 main gun mounted on the AMX-10RC is inconsistent with other NATO standard 105 mm ammunition and uses its own ammunition. This is due to the limit on the size of the feeder and the requirement to reduce recoil
Therefore, the power of 105 mm bullets fired from AMX-10C wheeled tanks is quite limited, when it can only penetrate 150 mm of uniform steel (RHA) at an angle of 60 degrees if fired from a distance of 1.2 km .
Of course, such power is not enough to fight main battle tanks in a “face-to-face” situation, but the AMX-10RC is still capable of destroying any infantry fighting vehicle or armored vehicle. carrying troops of the Russian Federation.
At the same time, in addition to armor-piercing ammunition, the AMX-10RC wheeled tank also has 105 mm high explosive fragmentation ammunition, allowing direct fire support quite effectively on the battlefield.
But it should be noted that the armor of the AMX-10RC wheeled tank has quite limited bullet resistance and cannot safely protect the crew from threats on the battlefield when 30mm bullets are also easy to deal with. easy to puncture.
However, at present, Ukraine does not have many options to strengthen its armored forces. In the event that the French proposal is approved, Kyiv can receive all 245 AMX-10RCs in operation by 2021, clearly, this opportunity should not be missed.
