Panhard EBR (Engin Blinde de Reconnaissance)

History of Panhard EBR (Engin Blinde de Reconnaissance)

The French Panhard EBR armored vehicle of the 1950s actually retains its design roots from the years preceding WWII. Paris-based Panhard et Levassor, considered one of France's foremost armoured vehicle arms contractors, was selected to design and develop a new 8x8 armoured reconnaissance vehicle. Armored ground reconnaissance units played a key role in military history during this period.

They are usually fast, lightly armored units designed to "watch" enemy positions and report progress to commanders if necessary. Unlike other attempts at global reconnaissance vehicles, the French were keen to develop well-equipped reconnaissance units that could engage enemy armored forces if necessary.

The French Army, which used 4x4 armored vehicles extensively in the 1930s, is switching to multi-wheeled vehicles with improved off-road performance.

Design work began in 1937, for which Panhard produced an evaluation prototype in 1939. The design included the required 8x8 wheeled configuration with a turret-mounted 25mm main gun, defended by a coaxially mounted 7.5mm machine gun. The German conquest of France ended up failing all further work on the vehicle.

With the end of the war in Europe in June 1945, the rebuilding of the French army began. For procurement considerations, the French Army contracted Panhard and rival Hotchkiss to build 8x8 and 6x6 armored vehicles, respectively, and the Panhard design was eventually adopted as the Panhard EBR.

The Panhard EBR features its eight large wheels mounted in four pairs along a rather long fuselage. The outermost wheelset consists of a conventional rubber tire system with steel rims, while the innermost pair of wheels are all-metal.

This configuration allows the vehicle to raise the metal wheels along its rubber set for on-road driving, and lower the metal wheels for improved ground control when driving off-road - especially on "soft" terrain such as mud (the extra wheels effectively lower the ground pressure). Additionally, the "Never Flat" tires benefit from the use of internal nitrogen-filled pockets, which allow the tires to take damage from small arms fire without losing traversal quality. The length of the hull forced engineers to specify two pilot positions - one at the front and the other at the rear, each with redundant controls. This allows the vehicle to escape at high speed without having to fully steer. A switch controls the transmission of drive force from one driver position to another.

The FL-11 series turret is located in the middle of the design and consists of a two-piece assembly with a 75mm SA49 (Canon 75mm SA49) main gun mounted. When the turret completes its 360-degree rotation, the barrel is closed by the muzzle brake. Along the turret roof is a convex dome with viewing blocks, while at the rear there is a pronounced turret overhang. The oscillating nature of the turret design allows for a large caliber main gun to be mounted on a relatively light hull assembly - very few front-facing production vehicles actually use this design element - as the main gun is mounted directly above the turret. The total weight was 14 short tons, the barrel length was over 20 feet (before the gun), the width was nearly 8 feet, and the height was over 7 feet.

The vehicle was driven by four people - two drivers, a vehicle commander and a gunner. The driver is located on the center hull at both ends of the hull, under a double-hinged hatch with suitable sights, flanked by large wheeled fenders. Headlamps at the true front of the fuselage provide night driving.

The "Pioneer" tool can be clipped to the side of the turret or to the fender as needed.

Power for the Panhard EBR is provided by a single in-house developed Panhard 12 H6000S series 200hp liquid-cooled 12-cylinder petrol engine. Power is sent to all eight wheels, giving the vehicle a top speed of 65 mph and a range of about 354 miles.

However, the location of the engine meant that the entire turret had to be removed for repairs, as it was under the bottom of the fuselage and was not easily accessible.

The production of the Panhard EBR was ordered in 1950 and the first serial brand appeared in 1951 ("EBR-75" or "1951 Edition"). A longer 75mm gun was introduced in 1954 - the 75mm SA50 series.

The final variant of the series was introduced in 1963 and is now upgraded to the 90mm main gun Type F2 (becoming "EBR-90"). The armor-killing firepower promised by this weapon was more in line with the medium/large main battle tanks of the time. All vehicle makes are equipped with up to 4 x 7.5mm MAC34 REIBEL machine guns, although two are typical of the default lineup. One machine gun is mounted on the coaxial mount of the turret, while the other is managed by the vehicle commander. Each driver manages optional (albeit fixed) machine gun equipment at their respective locations.

There are also 2 electric smoke grenade launchers on each side of the turret to cover offensive and defensive maneuvers (four grenades in total). The main battery can fire standardized HE (High Explosive), HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank) and smoke grenades as required. "Shot" tanks were also introduced. Some production forms were later fitted with the FL-10 series turrets of the AMX-13 light tank (75mm main gun) for increased striking power. The turrets fired 12 "ready-to-fire" 75mm rounds from two magazines in a repeat-fire pattern.

The main disadvantage of this modification is the increased side profile and ammunition resupply, which needs to be done from outside the vehicle.

A total of 1,200 Panhards were built, production continued until 1960, and served as the standard armoured car for the French army during his tenure. Sources list major EBR operators (outside the French army) including Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia and Portugal.

This model was in service with the French Armed Forces during the Algerian War of Independence from 1954-1962. The Portuguese army used this type in key positions during several colonial wars between 1961 and 1975 - in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau.

Panhard replaced the EBR series with a modern AMX 10 RC 6x6 armored car from the 1980s. The French abandoned EBR in 1987, about 36 years after EBR was introduced. A well-known variant of the EBR series is a modified armored personnel carrier named "EBR VTT".

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

56x75mm or 43x90mm projectile.

2,000 x 7.5mm ammo.

Changes