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Equipment catalogue · shared across conflicts

Infantry fighting vehicle

VBCI

Wheeled infantry fighting vehicles that gave the French intervention its protected punch on the long desert axes.

VBCIFranceFrench service; deployed with Serval and Barkhane

Status as of
2022-08
Last reviewed
2026-07-19

AssessmentHigh confidence

Recognition context, not a stat sheet. The catalogue covers major publicly documented systems relevant to the conflicts Vigil covers — not an exhaustive order of battle. No quantities, availability or current allocations are recorded.

The recordWhat this system is, where it comes from, who operates it and which of Vigil’s modules it is relevant to — with the evidence each of those rests on.

Historical / withdrawnEvidence: Documented
Silhouette · not to scale

Record

FamilyVBCI
VariantsVBCI 8x8
OriginFrance
EraFrench service; deployed with Serval and Barkhane
Appears inMali (Serval / Barkhane, historical)

Conflict relevance

This is the catalogue's single record for this system. It is relevant to the module below; each module's Force Atlas shows how it is used there.

Sahel · Force Atlas

Operators

France · Historical operator

Battlefield role

The heaviest armour France deployed in the Sahel: wheeled infantry fighting vehicles escorting the long desert convoys of Serval and Barkhane, their 25mm cannon the intervention's principal direct-fire overmatch.

Branch & service operators

PartialConfidence: HighSources: Established historical recordMethodologyCorrections

Assessed as of2022-08Last reviewed2026-07-19