October 18, 2022:
France is providing Ukrainian special operations forces twenty Bastion APC (armored personnel carrier). This version is customized to Ukrainian specifications. Bastion is a 4x4 vehicle based on the French VLRA military truck. Bastion was introduced a decade ago and hundreds have been manufactured for special forces, police and peacekeeping organizations. The Ukrainian version is a ten-ton vehicle with a V-shaped hull to provide enhanced protections against mines and other explosives. It carries ten personnel, including the driver and vehicle commander plus eight personnel in the back. Everyone has seats protected from concussion hitting the bottom of the vehicle during an explosion.
The Ukrainian Bastion has many MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle characteristics but is not as heavy or as well protected against mines and roadside bombs. There are six small bulletproof windows for the passengers plus bulletproof front windows for the driver and commander. A manned turret on top for one or more machine-guns. Bastion has excellent cross-country mobility and was designed mainly as a reconnaissance vehicle that can also serve as convoy escort, for peacekeeping operations or use by special operations forces. Top speed on roads is 110 kilometers an hour and max range on internal fuel is over a thousand kilometers. Bastion is also used by the French military as well as twenty export customers.