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Hello! Welcome to the suggestion for the ERC 90 F4 Sagaie, a French armored car with a bite. This vehicle is equipped with the GIAT TS 90 turret, currently found in-game on the MARS 15 light tank. If you are familiar with the MARS 15, then you will unfortunately know it is not stabilized. But thankfully, there does exist a stabilized variant, for that, please refer to the post by nxdefiant001. Back to the ERC 90 F4, in War Thunder, it would further expand the French light tank line, while also allowing French commanders to utilize its mobility to scout and destroy. Let’s find out a little more about the ERC 90’s story!
History
An earlier ERC 90, armed with a shorter 90 mm used on the AML-90.
In the 1970s, the Panhard company continued to produce and sell its AML armored car, however it was beginning to age. With this in mind, design of a successor at Panhard began in 1975 as a private venture. Based on the existing chassis of the 6×6 VCR APC, the new vehicle was designated ERC, short for ‘Engin à Roues, Canon’, or ‘Wheeled Vehicle, Cannon’. It would use a Peugeot V-6 petrol engine generating 155 hp, a greater power/weight ratio, while still maintaining the agility of the AML. An upgrade in the 2000s would replace the Peugeot V-6 engine with a 175 hp MTU OM 904 diesel engine paired with an automatic Renk gearbox. Development was completed by the time of the Camp Satory exhibition in 1977, but the ERC 90 F1 Lynx, the vehicle initially shown, used the same armament as the AML-90.
However, by this time, GIAT Industries had finished development of their new 90 mm F4 gun, a high pressure gun capable of firing the new OFL 90 F1 APFSDS round. Development on a turret to mount this gun ensued, and after some initial issues with the muzzle brake, the TS 90 turret was born. The TS 90 was a lightweight turret capable of being mounted to lighter vehicles, offering greater firepower without needing an entirely new vehicle. This newly armed vehicle, the ERC 90 F4, was nicknamed ‘Sagaie’, a French word for a type of African spear. Not only did the Sagaie attract the attention of the Ivory Coast, but soon, the French Army itself.
An ERC 90 from 1er Régiment de Hussards Parachutistes in Bosnia, 1990s.
By the late-1970s, the French Army was putting together a Fast Deployment Force, capable of reacting to emergency conflicts, notably in Africa or the Middle East. To do this, the force would need to be fast, light, and well equipped. The initial plan was to use the AMX-10RC for a brigade air transportable reconnaissance vehicle, but it was found to not be suitable for use on the French Air Force’s Transall C-160, or NATO C-130s. Much of the environments the force would likely deploy to would also have weight restrictions for bridges, and the 15 ton AMX-10RC would be ill suited for such a situation.
The ERC 90 F4 was subsequently tested from 1978 to 1980, and was, to the surprise of many, accepted for service by the French Army’s General Staff in December of 1980. A few vehicles initially were tested further by the Régiment d’infanterie chars de marine, a light cavalry regiment. On January 9th, 1984, the first production vehicles of an order of 192 vehicles were delivered to STAT, a section of the French Army responsible for evaluating and monitoring equipment. The last of these were delivered in 1990, and from then, the Sagaie saw use wherever the French Army went, from the Siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s, to its last combat use during a peacekeeping mission in the Ivory Coast in 2013. In 2022, the vehicle was no longer part of the French Army’s active equipment, and is being replaced by the EBRC Jaguar, a much more modern and capable vehicle.
In conclusion, although the ERC 90 F4 Sagaie had a rather unremarkable start, it saw unexpected use within the French military, and continues to see service with the Ivory Coast and Nigeria, as well as with Gabon in the form of the upgraded Sagaie 2.
An ERC 90 from 1er Régiment étranger at Canjuers Military Camp, 2012.
Specifications
- Crew: 3
- Mass: 7.6 t in basic form
- Length: 7.7 m
- Width: 2.50 m
- Height: 2.25 m
- Main armament: 90 mm CN 90 F4
- Main armament ammunition: 20 rounds in the turret
- Secondary armament: 2× 7.62mm AA-52 machine guns (3,000 rounds)
- Main armament elevation angle: 15° / -8°
- Engine: 130 hp Petrol V-6 PRV or 170 hp OM 904 diesel
- Maximum speed: 100 km/h, 60 km/h cross country, 9.5 km/h in water
Sources
Jane’s Armour and Artillery, 1985-86, p.173
ERC 90 Sagaie (GRV) - Armored Vehicles
Armored Car - The Wheeled Fighting Vehicle Journal (Issue #4)
Panhard ERC-90, wheeled tank (1977)
https://www.army-technology.com/projects/erc-90-vehicles/
Army Guide
