ERC-90 Sagaie

Light 6x6 reconnaissance / anti-tank armored vehicle - France

The ERC 90 Sagaie is a 6x6 light armored vehicle designed, developed, and manufactured from 1975 by the French Company Panhard, now a subdivision of Renault Trucks Defense. The company's AML 90, in addition to having conquered the world's markets, has shown the validity of its characteristics in various African and other conflicts that have seen it directly employed. On the basis of evaluation and the experience gained in all of these conflicts, and of the new requirements for wheeled armored vehicles, the French company felt it opportune not to build a totally new combat vehicle but rather to redesign and substantially improve that already well-known product. The French Army evaluated the ERC 90 F4 Sagaie between 1978-80 and accepted the vehicle in December 1980 although further trials, including hot weather trials in Djibouti in 1982. Panhard defines the ERC 90 Sagaie as an armored reconnaissance and anti-tank vehicle, with an accented capability to engage in combat with the vehicles of mechanized units and effect patrols and raids behind the enemy lines. In mid-2002, Panhard completed the first prototype of an upgraded Panhard ERC 90 F4 Sagaie (6 × 6) armored car for the French Army. The new version is motorized with a new engine powerful MTU 170 hp coupled to a Renk automatic transmission. This light vehicle is in service in many armies in the world, with among them the French land forces operating 193 ERC 90. In January 2022, the French Ministry of Defense has announced that the ERC-90 would be withdrawn from service in the French armed forces, but the vehicle remains in service with Argentina, Chad, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Mexico and Nigeria.

ERC-90 Sagaie main variants:

- ERC 90 F4 Sagaie 2: the model has a longer, wider hull and is powered by two Peugeot XD 3T four-cylinder turbocharged diesel engines each developing 98 hp at 4,150 rpm.
- ERC 90 F1 Lynx: This is fitted with a Lynx 90 turret designed and manufactured by Hispano-Suiza (which is no longer involved in the design, development and production of armored fighting vehicle turrets) and armed with a 90 mm F1 gun, a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun and two 80 mm smoke grenade dischargers on either side of the turret at the rear.
- ERC 90 CMI: The vehicle is equipped with a two-men crew CMI CSE-90 turret. Equipped with a 90 mm gun and the last generation control system, the ERC CSE-90 is the best compromise between weight and firepower. ERC 90 CMI is motorized with a Diesel MTU engine of 170 Hp and equipped with an automatic Renk gearbox.