Arrival of French PP-LOG trucks for Operation Daman in Lebanon.

On November 27, 2018, the Force Commander Reserve (FCR), to which the French soldiers of Operation Daman contribute, received 9 multipurpose logistic carrier trucks (PPLOG). These vehicles, both modern and robust, are deployed for the first time on Lebanese soil.

French IVECO PP-LOG trucks arriving in Lebanon (Picture source: French army)

On 27 November, a convoy of vehicles from the French logistics unit of the FCR went to the port of Beirut to retrieve equipment shipped by sea from France. Among the many equipment unloaded, spare parts and vehicles, including the 9 PP-LOG trucks stamped United Nations. They replace the logistic transport vehicles (VTL) of Operation Daman.

In 2010, the Directorate General of Armament ordered 200 8x8 PPLOG trucks from IVECO and Soframe (a subsidiary of the Lohr Group) to replace aging French Army vehicles, as part of an initial fleet of 2,400 machines revised before the military programming law 2014-2019 to 1,800. If in 2013, 450 deliveries were expected by 2019, in 2015, 900 deliveries were announced by that date. The average unit cost is € 360,000 for logistics transport versions. The IVECO chassis is, in 2013, used in Italy, Spain and Belgium to more than three thousand units. The 6-cylinder turbodiesel engine of 12 882 cc developing 450 hp at (330 kW) at 1,900 rpm is manufactured by Fiat Powertrain Technologies in Bourbon-Lancy.

The first vehicle was delivered at the end of June 2013. In February 2014, the DGA ordered 250 additional vehicles, bringing the total ordered to 450 units. It was completed before the end of 2015 by an order for 450 identical vehicles. These 700 vehicles were delivered from 2016 to 2018, including 285 PP-LOG delivered in 2016.

The PPLOG has an autonomous loading system and can transport trays or containers for loads up to 16 tons. On the South Lebanese theater, it will ensure the transport of cargo of any kind (containers, tanks and small vehicles possibly) between the various French rights of way.

Present since 1978 in Lebanon, France is one of the major contributors to UNIFIL, with nearly 700 soldiers permanently deployed as part of Operation Daman. The vast majority of them are armed with the RCF, which is directly under the command of the commander-in-chief of UNIFIL, and is in a position to act for the benefit of all the troops deployed throughout the area of action, as part of of the resolution 1701. The naval aspect of this mission includes permanently several frigates deployed in force constituted (Task Force 448). Their mission: to monitor Lebanon's maritime approaches and prevent the introduction of weapons by sea.