Editing VBL Ingwe (section)

==History==
Class: Reconnaissance Vehicle</br>
Developed: 1988</br>
Service: 1990+</br>
Vehicles Built: cca 2400</br>
Operators: France, Greece, Oman, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Djibouti, Gabon, Indonesia, Kuwait, Mexico, Nigeria, Portugal, Qatar, Senegal, Togo and UAE

The VBL is a light, four-wheeled armored fighting vehicle, designed for multiple roles while offering its crew basic small arms protection. It is a compact machine, capable of great speeds and a wide variety of duties, including reconnaissance, liaison tasks or even armored vehicle killing.

It was developed by Panhard in the late 1980s and its designation stands for Véhicule Blindé Léger (Light Armored Vehicle). In a way it was designed for the "old" type of war, symmetric warfare where units in such vehicles wouldn't be the most common target of enemy attention. The original purpose of the program was to replace the American Jeep vehicles still in French service in the late 1970s and to provide the French army with a light and affordable platform for multiple weapons systems.

The VBL was accepted in French service in 1990 and has found its way to around a dozen (mostly African) countries. It's a very popular export item thanks to its ruggedness and versatility. The biggest operators include France (approximately 1400 in service), Greece, and Oman. All in all, around 2400 were built. Over the years, the VBLs in French service were mostly involved in peacekeeping operations for the United Nations, such as those in former Yugoslavia, Lebanon and Somalia, but some saw service in Mali, the Ivory Coast and Afghanistan. The Nigerians used VBLs in counter-insurgency operations as light fighting vehicles (the recon variant armed with a Browning M2 .50 caliber heavy machinegun).

This particular model features an experimental INGWE ATGM launcher. This variant was never produced.