58 http://www.militaryvehiclesmagazine.com
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builtwitha 29bhp engine.ItwastheFL501withitsslightly
morepowerful36bhpengine,however,thatemergedasthemore
popular.
cameLohrIndustrieswhichbuiltthevehiclein seriesproduction
fortheFrenchArmy.Fromtheverybeginning,it wasdescribed
asanall-purposevehicleand,becauseofitslightweight,it was
promotedasanidealchoiceforairborneforces.Inthatrespect,
Lohrsuppliedaround 300 vehiclestotheFrenchArmybetween
1978 and1979.Thesewereusedbyspecialistregimentssuchas
the35eRegimentd’ArtillerieParachutiste(35thParachuteArtil-
leryRegiment).
Consistingofa weldedtubularalloyframe,theweightofthe
vehiclewaskeptdowntotheminimum,anditsoveralldimen-
sionswerealsokeptascompactaspossible.Theoverallwheel-
baselengthwas2.375m,witha widthof1.260moverthewheels.
It is only1.180mtothetopofthefairinginfrontofthedriver’s
position. Sucha compact designmeantthat severalcould be
carriedinternallyinaircraftsuchasC-130Herculesandlarger
helicopters,suchastheCH-47Chinookthatcouldcarrytwoas
internalcargo.Thevehiclecouldalsobetransportedasunder-
slungcargofromlighterhelicopters,allowingit tobedeployed
rapidlywithairbornetroops.It couldalsobeair-droppedusinga
specially-preparedpalletwitha parachute.
Poweredbyanair-cooledCitröen602ccflattraingasoline
engine(ratedat36bhp)transversally-mountedinthecenter,it
can reachspeedsupto 80km/honroads withan operational
rangeof200km.TherunninggearwasadaptedfromtheCitröen
hn Norris
uringthe 1980s,severalarmies
introduced small, light-
weight 4x4 alll-terrain ve-
forthe puruposesofproviding
ortation and cargo-carryinng
ilitiesto specialistforces, es-
lyl airborne units. The trend
etbyb the Americanarmydur-
eVietnammWa r,whereitused
M 274 “MechanicalMule”to
ammunitionandcargo over
distancesandbe usedasafir-
aaformforweapons.
nnneofthe moreinteresting de-
to emerge was a versatile
h-built vehicle calledthe “FL501.”It enteredservicewith
enchArmy,butwasalsoadopted by the Spanisharmy,
withtheforcesofTu nisia andArgentina.
eighingonly 680kg,it couldcarryalmostits ownweight
argoloadandconfiguredtoservein variousrolesinclud-
oopcarrier,weaponplatform,ambulance,andcommuni-
svehicle. Anearlierversion,knownasthe “FL500,” was
with a 29bhp engine It was the FL501 with its slightly
VictorBouffortdesignedbothversionswhilethecompany
ofSOFRAMAGdevelopedthevehicles.SOFRAMAGlaterbe-
came Lohr Industries which built the vehicle in series production
A French “lightweight”