Africa Libya placed an order of 60 V-200 Chaimite armored cars in June 1976, though only 13 or 16 were delivered. The Libyan government cancelled the order upon hearing that the Portuguese government had decided that same year to establish diplomatic relations with
Israel, an act that infuriated President
Muammar Gaddafi who immediately severed the diplomatic and commercial ties with Portugal in protest, which left the remaining 25 vehicles still in production at the assembly line of the
Bravia VM plant in
Samora Correia. The batch of V-200 Chaimite armored cars that was shipped to Libya prior to the break-up of diplomatic relations was assigned to the Presidential Guard,
Middle East Lebanon was the first
Middle Eastern country to place a request in December 1972 of thirty V-200 Chaimite armored cars for its
Internal Security Forces (ISF), though only twenty-one vehicles had been delivered by April 1975, when occurred the outbreak of the
Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), a conflict in which they saw considerable action. During the
Battle of the Hotels in October 1975, the ISF used their own V-200 armored cars alongside loaned
M113 and
Panhard M3 VTT armored personnel carriers (APCs) by the
Lebanese Army in a successful operation to evacuate more than 200 people – including the staff and residents, most of them tourists – trapped in the
Holiday Inn and adjoining hotels located at the Minet el-Hosn hotel district of
downtown Beirut. When the ISF collapsed in January 1976, the Christian
Tigers Militia and
Guardians of the Cedars (GoC) militia were able to seize an unspecified number of V-200 armored cars, which the GoC later employed against the
Syrian Army at Houche el-Oumara during the
Battle of Zahleh on April–June 1981. The vehicles operated by the Tigers Militia were reportedly employed in the defense of the Christian-controlled east
Beirut quarters during the
Hundred Days' War in February–April 1978, but after the forcible disbandment of the militia in October 1980 they were eventually returned to ISF ownership. The Lebanese ISF Command was so impressed by the performance of its V-200 Chaimite armored cars in the field – notably, the Lebanese crews praised the ability of their vehicles' armored hull to withstand small-arms fire,
landmine blasts and even
RPG-7 anti-tank rounds in an
urban combat environment – that they requested a further nine or 10 vehicles in 1980, which were delivered by 1982. Later in August 1990, the Lebanese showed interest in acquiring an additional thirty V-200 armored cars along with 15
Bravia Commando MK III patrol cars for the ISF, but those plans were eventually scrapped upon the conclusion of the civil war in October that same year.
Latin America Peru was the first foreign customer of the Chaimite, purchasing in 1970 twenty V-200 armored cars for its
Marine corps, which were delivered in 1971–1973. ==Operators==