US donates Bastion 4x4 armored vehicle to Ugandan Contingent of AMISOM.

The United States has donated 19 Bastion 4x4 light combat vehicles via the American Company Mack Defense to the Ugandan Contingent serving under the African Union Mission in Somalia, (AMISOM), as part of the continued effort to boost capacity to fight Al Shabaab terrorists.

 Ugandan Contingent of AMISOM  takes delivery of Bastion 4x4 armoured vehicle manufactured by the American Company Mack Defense (source picture AMISOM website)

The vehicles were presented by Brig. General Miguel A. Castellanos, Commander US Army Deputy Commanding General CJTF-HOA Somalia on Monday, September 25, 2017, to the Ugandan Contingent Commander Brig. General Muhanga Kayanja.

Brig. General Castellanos reiterated the commitment of the United States towards enhancing the fight against terrorism in Somalia. He also added that support in terms of donation of vehicles will be extended to all the Contingents serving under AMISOM.

The AMISOM Ugandan Contingent Commander welcomed the donation which he said is timely.

“As a Contingent, we have been operating at 40 percent capacity in terms of the necessary equipment. This donation therefore comes in handy and will greatly boost our technical and operational capability. We however continue to face a big challenge of the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), which have cost us a lot of equipment. We need an urgent solution to this challenge,” General Muhanga stated.

The donations comes with spare parts for the vehicles and a maintenance team is to be assigned to train personnel to ensure timely repairs.

The Bastion APC was unveiled at Eurosatory 2010 by the French Defence Company ACMAT, It's a new generation of light wheeled armoured vehicle personnel carrier. The Bastion APC is a 4x4, high-mobility infantry and reconnaissance armoured vehicle developed based on the rugged chassis of the VLRA TDN-TDE series to provide a capable and reliable multirole platform.

The monocoque hull structure of Bastion APC has optimized body angles and a low silhouette for increased survivability. The high hardness armoured steel hull provides all-round protection against infantry rifles and machine guns (ballistic protection Level 1 to Level 3, NATO STANAG 4569) and artillery shell splinters.

The Bastion APC Acmat can be fitted with a various types of remote weapon stations and turrets incorporating 7.62mm or 12.7mm machine guns, 40 mm automatic grenade launcher can be adapted to the Bastion APC range of vehicles.

The Bastion APCs delivered to the Ugandan armed forces are fitted with an open-top weapon station which can be armed with a 7.62 or 12.7mm machine gun.