Military expert Katkov explains purpose of French AMX-10 RC armored vehicles

He said this on Espreso TV. 

“When we talk about AMX-10 RC wheeled tanks, there are two points. Firstly, in the French Armed Forces themselves, they are not classified as tanks, but are called wheeled reconnaissance combat vehicles. However, a car with a 105 mm caliber gun can be called a tank. As for its capabilities, it should be understood that it was created in the 70s, and in the 80s it already appeared in service with the French army, and then underwent a large number of modernizations. This machine is not designed for the European theater of military operations, but for expeditionary operations, war patrols,” explained the military expert.

Oleh Katkov added that in the 90s, after the modernization of the AMX-10 RC, an additional armor was established, because initially it was a machine with aluminum armor and could only protect against bullets.

“There is a specific feature of this machine: it is wheeled, has a 105 mm gun that uses non-unified ammunition, and there are special munitions for it. The AMX-10 RC caliber will not be able to burn through the armor of a Russian tank, in the frontal projection this machine will not be able to fight tanks. However, targets such as infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, and long-range firing points are no problem for the AMX-10 RC. We are talking about a wheeled combat vehicle that has excellent operational mobility, but low cross-country ability. Ready-made units can be formed from such machines and used as an operational reserve. Also, the AMX-10 RC can become a means of terrorizing the enemy, because it is a reconnaissance vehicle that has an excellent complex of pursuit and target detection. And finally, when we can talk about breakthroughs, this is what this machine was created for in general - breaking through and working behind enemy lines. And this is the main function of the AMX-10 RC, and it was created for this purpose,” Katkov noted. 

• On January 4, it was reported that France to hand over AMX-10RC light battle tanks, Bastion armored personnel carriers to Ukraine