ARQUUS Bastion 4x4 APC armored personnel carrier in service with Senegal Army.

The Bastion 4x4 APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) vehicle manufactured by the French Company ARQUUS is now in service with armed forces of Senegal. On April 4, 2019, a picture was released on the official website of the "Présidence de la République du Sénégal" showing Bastion APC at military parade marking Senegal's 59th anniversary of independence.

Senegalese army Bastion APC at military parade marking Senegal's 59th anniversary of independence. April 4, 2019. (Picture source Présidence de la République du Sénégal)

According to the SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) Arms Transfers Database, France has delivered 9 Bastion 4x4 APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) vehicles to Senegal.

The Bastion is a French-made 4x4 armored personnel carrier that was developed and designed by the French Company ACMAT, acquired in 2006 by Renault Trucks Defense, which is now called ARQUUS. The vehicle was unveiled in June 2010 during the defense exhibition in France, Eurosatory. The vehicle is now in service with many African countries in different configurations.

Bastion APC is economically built with common parts of the light 4x4 tactical vehicle VLRA 2, enabling easy maintenance and uncomplicated logistics. The mechanical and automotive components of Bastion APC carry the basic design of a standard VLRA TDN-TDE. It can run at a maximum road speed of 110 km/h with a maximum cruising range of 1,000 km.

The Bastion APC can carry ten soldiers in an internal volume of 8.5m³, including driver and commander at the front and eight soldiers at the rear. The Senegalese version of the Bastion APC is fitted with a one-man open-top weapon station armed with a 12.7mm heavy machine gun.

The high hardness armored 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 vehicle provides protection against anti-personnel and anti-tank mines and side explosives.