Beyond their common primary role of transporting personnel and equipment in combat zones, some VAB are tailored for mechanized infantry combat, some fulfill the role of anti-tank missile launchers, some of self-propelled mortars, some are optimized for electronic warfare, others act as reconnaissance or artillery observation vehicles, etc.

These features were dictated by its possible usage in the event of an all-out conventional war breaking out against the Warsaw Pact; in particular, the amphibious capabilities were needed to bridge the rivers in Eastern France and in Germany.

The engine is located behind the driver, while the right side of the vehicle is kept free, providing a passageway between the crew and passenger compartments.

The amphibious shape of the hull, the relatively light weight and the armour upgrade seem to give the VAB strong resistance against mines.

Weighing 9.970 kg, this machine gun operates through a lever-delayed blowback action mechanism, enabling a maximum rate of fire of 900 rounds per minute.

The AA-52 is equipped with a belt feed system and features Iron Removable APX (SOM) telescopic sights and an infrared scope for precision targeting.

[22] As of July 2007, all the personnel killed by mines aboard VABs had occupied the gunner position (though serious injuries were sometimes sustained by crewmen inside the hull).

[10] From 2007, the Army head of staff repeatedly requested that remotely operated 12.7mm turrets be fitted on these vehicles, as a crash requirement.

Field experience shows a significant drop in ammunition consumption with the tele-operated turret, whose computer allows the operator to fire efficient single shots, rather than bursts.

VABs have been deployed in virtually all theatres where French infantry troops were present, notably Kuwait, Côte d'Ivoire, Yugoslavia, and Chad.

One soldier manning the rooftop machine gun of a VAB was later killed when the road collapsed under his vehicle and it rolled over.

[29] VABs belonging to the Royal Moroccan Army (FAR) have seen heavy combat during the conflict with Polisario rebels of the Western Sahara.

A total of 95 VABs were delivered to the Lebanese Army between 1981 and 1984,[30][31] being extensively employed during the Lebanese Civil War, with several vehicles serving under the Shia Amal Movement militia banner after the Army's predominantly Shia 6th Infantry Brigade went over to their coreligionists in February 1984.