The Petit Véhicule Protégé^[2] ("Light Protected vehicle")^[2] is a light, general-purpose armoured 4-wheel drive vehicle used by the French Army, made by Panhard. It is also designated as Auverland A4 AVL (Armoured Vehicle Light). Built by Auverland, it is one of the successors to the Peugeot P4.

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Petit Véhicule Protégé
PVP of the French army after the Bastille Day Parade (July 14, 2021)
Type	Light armoured vehicle, 2-door truck
Place of origin	France
Service history
Used by	See Operators
Production history
Manufacturer	Panhard
Unit cost	€167,000[1] (FY 2012)
Produced	2008–2012
No. built	1133
Variants	See Variants
Specifications
Mass	4,390 kg
Length	4.6 m (15 ft 1 in)
Width	2.28 m (7 ft 6 in)
Height	2.17 m (7 ft 1 in)
Crew	2 to 4
Armour	STANAG 4569 (6 to 10 mm)
Main armament	Medium machine gun
Engine	IVECO 8140 2.8 litre turbo-diesel 160 hp (120 kW)
Power/weight	34 hp/tonne
Suspension	Wheeled 4 x 4
Operational range	800 km (500 mi)
Maximum speed	120 km/h (75 mph)

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It's intended mostly as personnel carrier, weapon carrier, and for reconnaissance, detection and communications purposes.

In 2004, the first batch of 314 vehicles was ordered. The first vehicles were delivered in February 2008 and production ended in July 2012.^[1] 100 vehicles will be fitted with the WASP light RWS. It is expected that the French DGA will order an additional 300 PVP vehicles.

The 2009-14 military budget originally called for a total of 1500 PVPs, but this was reduced to 1233 in 2010 and 1133 in 2012. In the end, 1073 were delivered to the Army at a total cost of €242.7m (~US$325m) for a unit cost of €167,000 (~US$220,000), or €226,000 (~US$300,000) including development costs.^[1]

The PVP is modular, allowing extra seats to be added for more personnel, or to be used as a light truck. The armour, made of steel and aluminium, offers level 2 protection (STANAG 4569) for the crew and the engine. The floor is protected against antipersonnel mines (type DM 31).

• PVP HD (Heavy Duty) – larger version, based on the same architecture but with level 3 armour. With 5 doors and more cargo area (2T payload, total internal volume of 7.9 m³). Gross vehicle weight is 7.6 tonnes.
• PVP XL (Extra Large) – with a total internal volume of 9.4 m³ and a gross vehicle weight of 12 tonnes (max. payload: 3 tonnes). The maximum number of seats is 10. The basic armour of the XL model also offers a level 3 protection.
• PVP APC – Based on the French Army's PVP but with a 150mm higher roofline to provide room for 6 troops. Developed in 2010.^[3]
• Gavial – Unbuilt 5-door version with pneumatic suspension, to be licence-built by Rheinmetall. Offered to the Bundeswehr but they chose the LAPV Enok instead.
• Colt – License-built by Ashok Leyland, first revealed in 2012.^[4] Variants of the original PVP as the Colt Light Tactical Vehicle,^[5] the PVP HD as the Colt Light Armoured Vehicle^[6] and the Colt Airmobile.^[7]

•  Chile – 15 PVP delivered (Chilean Marines and Grupo de Operaciones Policiales Especiales)^[8]
•  France – 1073 PVP delivered for the French Army and French police elite unit RAID^[1]
•  Mali - Said to operate an unknown number of PVPs.^[9]
•  Romania – 16 PVP delivered from 2012–15.^[10]
•  Togo – 6 PVPs delivered in 2008 for Togolese forces deployed with MINURCAT.^[11]