The Panhard ERC 90 is a French six-wheeled armoured all-terrain vehicle
which is highly mobile and amphibious with an option of being NBC-proof. While
various models were tested, only two versions of the ERC were developed and
produced: the Lynx and the Sagaie. The main difference between the two versions
is the type of turret and 90 mm gun fitted. Sagaie is French for Assegai, a
type of African Spear. Background
The Sagaie was originally a private-export project. The ERC 90
wheeled armoured vehicles were developed by Panhard in the last half of the 1970s
as successor to its highly successful four wheel AML and M3 armoured vehicles.
= Design= The ERC and VCR are a family of six
wheel armoured reconnaissance vehicles, the ERC being the cannon-armed turret
model and the VCR being the armoured personnel carrier version. ERC is the
French abbreviation of term Engin à Roues, Canon or Gun-armed Wheeled
Vehicle. The ERC shares many components of the VCR vehicles. Two main versions
of the ERC were developed: first the ERC F1 90 Lynx, then the ERC F4 90 Sagaie.
The Lynx appeared about 1977 and the Sagaie followed approximately two years
later in 1979. The Lynx was developed primarily as an armoured reconnaissance
vehicle. The Sagaie was also an armoured reconnaissance vehicle, with the added
secondary role of tank-destroyer. In 1977, Panhard offered the ERC and VCR to
the French Army as an armoured personnel carrier and gun-armed reconnaissance
vehicle. The Army instead chose the VAB four-wheeled armoured vehicle from
Saviem for the larger APC contract, and the AMX 10 RC from GIAT for the
reconnaissance requirement. Panhard also offered the vehicles to France's Mobile
Gendarmerie, but the Gendarmerie chose the Saviem VBC-90. Panhard later found
success for both the VRC and ERC in the world export market, and later with the
ERC version with the French Army entering service in 1984.
= Production history= The first production order for the ERC
90 F1 Lynx was in October 1979 from Argentina, for 36 units, to be used by
Argentine Marines to patrol the long border between Argentina and Chile. The
second large order was from Mexico, for 42 units in early 1981. Both countries
ordered the ERC Lynx version because it could elevate or depress its 90mm cannon
over a wider range for operations in steep mountain terrain.
Further export orders followed. Both nations also appreciated the all-terrain
mobility of the Lynx which is enhanced by the capability to raise or lower the
central pair of wheels depending on terrain condition, especially in sandy
or muddy ground. All versions of the ERC are also equipped with two hydrojets
behind the rear wheels and require no preparation for amphibious operations.
= ERC 90 F4 Sagaie= Shortly after the ERC 90 F1 Lynx had
been built for export, Panhard recognized the need for a cost-effective
light armoured vehicle that could defeat a more modern main battle tank, like the
Russian T-72 which was being exported to many nations. The Lynx version could
only fire medium-velocity HEAT rounds in the anti-tank role, which lacked the
penetration to defeat the more modern MBTs. Panhard designed a turret which
mounted the long barrel F4 90mm smooth bore-cannon developed by GIAT, and
designated the vehicle the ERC 90 F4 Sagaie. The F4 90mm could fire Armour
Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding Sabot rounds at a much higher velocity than
the Lynx's F1 90mm; GIAT and Panhard both claimed it could penetrate heavy
armour at 2000 metres. For a while, GIAT engineers could not find a suitable
muzzle brake for the Sagaie which would not interfere with the firing of APFSDS
rounds, but finally found a suitable solution using a muzzle brake design
from the older AMX-13 tank. Ivory Coast was the first export
customer, ordering five Sagaies to replace its aging AMX-13s in the light
armour role. At this time period, the French Army was organising the Fast
Deployment Force for overseas military missions, mainly in Africa or the Middle
East. The main core of the FDF would be French Army's 9th Marine Infantry
Division and 11th Parachute Division. To make the new FDF "more muscular" a new
unit was activated, the 31st Heavy Half Brigade of two regiments. One regiment
was to be armed with vehicles mounting the HOT wire-guided missile, and the
other with cannon-armed vehicles that could provide both reconnaissance and a
limited tank-killing role. The French Army had at first planned on
equipping the second regiment with the AMX-10RC, but were told that this
vehicle was not suitable for transport by the French Air Force Transall C-160
or its allies' Hercules C-130 aircraft due to size and weight issues. In
addition, most of the bridges in Africa had only a 6 to 8 ton load capacity. So
instead of the larger AMX-10RC, which was already in service with the French
Army, the French Army Staff took the surprise step in December 1980 of
ordering the Sagaie for the future FDF. And to date the Sagaie has proved very
useful for the French Army in its African bases and even in urban
conditions during the Siege of Sarajevo. The last known combat use of the Sagaie
was with French troops stationed in Ivory Coast on a peace-keeping mission
between two rival factions. In 1982, ERC 90 F1 vehicles of the Argentine Marines
saw combat in the Falkland Islands in the defence of Port Stanley.
Sagaie upgrade The French Army has upgraded 160 of its
192 ERC's in service with a diesel MTU 4-cylinder 170 hp engine coupled to a
automatic gearbox made by Renk and have made enhancements to the turret to
improve observation, fire control and command.
= ERC-90 Sagaie 2= A weakness of the Sagaie is its low
power-to-weight ratio. The Sagaie 2 is an ERC extended with two Peugeot XD 3T
four-cylinder turbocharged diesel 98hp engines; the same engine used on the
VBL. Six were ordered by Gabon. A prototype equipped with two PRV V6
engines was built as a private venture, but none were ordered.
Variants EMC 91: Fire support version armed with
81mm mortar in an Hispano-Suiza EMC turret.
ERC 20: Anti-aircraft version with 2× 20 mm autocannons.
ERC 60-20: Fitted with Hispano-Suiza 60-20 Serval turret armed with a 60 mm
mortar and a 20 mm autocannon. ERC 90: Fitted with a diesel engine.
ERC 90 F1 Lynx: Fitted with the Hispano-Suiza Lynx 90 turret as fitted
to the Panhard AML. ERC 90 F4 Sagaie: Fitted with GIAT TS 90
turret with long barrel high velocity cannon that can fire APDS-FS anti-tank
rounds. ERC 90 Sagaie 2: Slightly larger version
fitted with twin engines and improved turret.
VCR: APC based on ERC. Operators
= Current operators= Argentina - 14
Chad - 4 Côte d'Ivoire - 7
Ecuador - 10 France - 192
Gabon - 14 Mexico - 120
Nigeria - 46 Characteristics
Armament: 1 x 90 mm, 1 x 7.62 mm coaxial MG, 1 x 7.62 mm AA MG AA, 2 x 2 smoke
grenade dischargers Ammunition: 20 x 90 mm, 2,000 x 7.62 mm
Armour: maximum 10 mm steel Crew: 3
Weight:: 8,100 kg Length: 5.10 m hull, 7.69 m overall
Width: 2.49 m Height: 2.25
Wheelbase: 1.63 + 1.22 m Engine: Peugeot V-6 petrol, 155 hp at
5,250 rpm Maximum speed: 95 km/h
Fuel capacity: 242 L Range: 700 km
Fording: Amphibious Water speed: 4.5 km/h wheels, 9.5 km/h
hydrojets Ground clearance: 0.34 m
Vertical obstacle: 0.8 m Trench: 1.1 m
Gradient: 60% Side Slope: 30%
NBC system: Optional Night vision: Optional
References Notes
External links globalsecurity.org
cnn.com nasog.net
ERC 90 Sagaie on Armour.ws armyrecognition.com
Video links Panhard company promotional video of the
ERC 90 Sagaie on YouTube Sagaie in action in CHAD on Youtube by
Panhard 2008.