France’s NEXTER Group is offering its TITUS 6×6 multirole armoured vehicles to the Cote d’Ivoire as that country looks for a replacement for its ageing armored vehicles.

Some 30 soldiers from the first armoured batallion, from the National Gendarmerie intervention unit, from the armoured squadron group of the National Gendarmerie and the special forces were trained by Nexter during evaluation on military range, according to the Ivorian Press Agency (AIP).

These potential users not only tried out the remote-controlled turret equipped with a 20mm gun and a 7.62mm machine-gun, but also the way personnel embark and disembark and tested the TITUS’ manoeuvrability on road, path and cross-country.This evaluation phase was followed on 3 February by a demonstration

This evaluation phase was followed on 3 February by a demonstration organised for the chief of staff of the Ivorian armed forces, General Touré Sékou, and the commander of the UN forces in Côte d’Ivoire, French General Didier L’Hôte. According to AIP, this tactical exercise using live ammunition “demonstrated the control of a virtual enemy by a mixed section of (10) men.”

An important detail is that the soldiers involved in this demonstration were all awarded a certificate attesting to their new skills. Now that it has officially trained teams the TITUS now only needs the green light from the government to allow it to operate in Africa and win its first export contract.

forcesoperations.com