French APC VAB Mk.3 with Sich RWS spotted in Ukraine

26 January, 2025 French VAB Mk.3 armored personnel carrier with Ukrainian Sich combat module. Photo: NIP Tysk A rare French VAB Mk.3 armored personnel carrier with a Ukrainian Sich combat module has been spotted in Ukraine.

The National Information Portal Tysk published the photo of the equipment. The armored personnel carrier was spotted covered in sand camouflage. The French manufacturer Arquus used this color to present the vehicle at defense exhibitions.

Equally noteworthy is the Ukrainian Sich combat module, equipped with a ZTM-1 30mm automatic cannon (a copy of the 2A72), an AG-30 automatic grenade launcher, and a PKT 7.62mm machine gun.

French VAB Mk.3 armored personnel carrier with Ukrainian Sich combat module. Photo: NIP Tysk

The operator controls them remotely using the control panel inside the vehicle. The combat module can be used at any time throughout the day due to its day and night thermal imaging guidance channel and is capable of accurate fire on the move thanks to its two-plane stabilization.

VAB Mk.3 armored personnel carrier with the TRT-25 combat module from BAE Systems OMC installed.

Photo: Arquus Defense

The exact arrival of VAB Mk.3 armored personnel carriers in Ukraine is currently unknown. In September 2023, the French Ministry of National Defense announced on its official page in X that Arquus, as part of the signed agreements, undertakes to support VABs that France is transferring to Ukraine, particularly through local spare parts production. The company should also explore the possibility of creating a partnership to produce a new VAB Mk.3 in Ukraine.

In June 2024, Ukroboronprom and private Ukrainian companies also signed a number of agreements on cooperation with French arms manufacturers. Among these companies was Arquus, with which a Memorandum of Understanding was signed. The document concerns the maintenance and modernization of armored vehicles.

Today, Arquus is the main developer and manufacturer of the VAB Mk.3, created for export at the Limoges plant.

VAB Mk.3

The VAB Mk.3 armored personnel carrier, developed by the French private company Arquus Defense in the early 2000s, weighs 20 tons and provides STANAG Level 4 protection, which means protection against 14.5mm machine guns and 155mm shell fragments at a distance of 30 meters.

For export, the combat vehicle can be equipped with both conventional remote-controlled machine guns and the TRT-25 25mmmodule from BAE Systems OMC, as well as a turret with a CSE 90 cannon from the Belgian company John Cockerill.