Centaure: initial lessons learnt from operations with the Gendarmerie’s new armored vehicle

Now that the 90th and final Centaure has been delivered to the Gendarmerie, the new armored vehicle’s various operational engagements provide some initial lessons.

In mid-October 2024, the 90th example of the Gendarmerie’s new multi-purpose intervention vehicle (VIPG), christened the Centaure, left the Alsace factory of manufacturer Soframe. It is now on its way to French Guiana. This final delivery concludes, a few months ahead of schedule, the order launched in 2021 to progressively replace the Gendarmerie’s wheeled armored vehicles (VBRG), which entered service in the 1970s.