Arms blindée et cavalerie

AMX-30 in the "Opération Daguet" during the Second Gulf War

The arm blindée et cavalerie (ABC) is a branch of arms of the French army , which was created after the Second World War by the amalgamation of the armored weapon and the cavalry . The ABC is responsible for restructuring most of the armored forces that were originally assigned to the infantry .

Task

The task of the arms blindée et cavalerie includes the traditional tasks of the cavalry with modern means:

Breaking through the front with the help of the Army Aviation Force ( Aviation légère de l'armée de terre );

Expansion of the breakthrough, due to the speed and mobility of the fully off-road vehicles;

Covering the retreat of one's own corps , concealing an uncovered section between two corps;

Reconnaissance (even if this is partly replaced by the air force, radar and satellite technology).

Another former task of the cavalry, the military communication link (originally carried out by equestrian relays) was replaced by the radio and is now at the level of the divisions or higher.

Equipment 2006

The cavalry units of the marine infantry (Troupes de marine) and the Légion étrangère (Foreign Legion) are also integrated. In January 2005, the ABC staff consisted of a total of 12,485 members.

964 officers ,

4,176 NCOs

7,345 voluntary team ranks

892 civilians in the armed forces

Total: 10% of the land forces.

The stock of armored vehicles consisted of:

20 Char de Dépannage DNG / DCL armored recovery vehicles

165 ERC-90 saga

? Main battle tank AMX-30 B2 . Of these, 17 were still in use in 2006 to serve as a representation of the enemy during maneuvers. These vehicles entered service between 1967 and 1983, where they were used in line with the AMX-13 tank destroyers.
280 Leclerc main battle tank . The first tank of this type was delivered in 1991. The lot consisted of 406 pieces
256 armored cars AMX-10 RC ; first used in 1980. A total of 337 units were delivered to the French army
1.063 Véhicule Blindé Léger
344 Véhicule de l'avant blindé (will be replaced by Véhicule blindé multi-rôles from 2019 )

AMX Leclerc on July 14, 2006 in Paris
AMX-30 - Formed the backbone of ABC during 30 years of service
AMX-10 RC of the "1st Regiment de spahis" 2006 in maneuvers
ERC-90 Sagaie during the “Opération Daguet” in the Gulf War (1990–1991).
One of the armored recovery vehicles (Char de Dépannage DNG / DCL) of the 501st Panzer Regiment in 2010

List of regiments

At the present time, the "Arme blindée et cavalerie" is formed from the following associations:

4 mixed tank regiments originally equipped with 80 Leclerc tanks each, which were reduced to 54 tanks each during the reorganization in 2009.

12 ^e régiment de cuirassiers (12 ^e RC) in Olivet

"501 ^e régiment de chars de combat" (501st Panzer Regiment) in Mourmelon-le-Grand

"1 ^e régiment de chasseurs à cheval" (1st regiment of hunters on horseback) in Thierville-sur-Meuse

5 ^e régiment de cuirassiers , set up again by order of June 2, 2016 and stationed at Camp Zayed in Abu Dhabi .

Armored cavalry regiments equipped with the AMX-10 RC armored car :

"1 ^e régiment de Spahis " (1 ^e RS) in Valence

" 1 ^e régiment étranger de cavalerie " (1 ^e REC) in Carpiagne

" 3 ^e régiment de hussards " - 3 ^e RH (3rd hussar regiment) in Metz

Armored cavalry regiments equipped with the ERC-90 Sagaie armored car :

"1 ^e régiment de hussards parachutistes" (1st hussar parachute regiment) in Tarbes

" 4 ^e régiment de chasseurs " (4th Jägerregiment) in Gap (Hautes-Alpes)

An armored reconnaissance regiment

"2 ^e régiment de hussards" (2nd hussar regiment) in Haguenau

Light reconnaissance regiment

"13 ^e régiment de dragons parachutistes" (13th Dragoons Parachute Regiment) in Martignas-sur-Jalle

2 training regiments

" 1 ^e régiment de chasseurs d'Afrique " (1st African Jägerregiment) cavalry training regiment in the "Commandement de la formation et de l'entrainement interarmes" (training command for the combined arms) in the Camp militaire de Canjuers in the Var department

5 ^e régiment de dragons set up again in January 2016 as a training regiment in the "CENTAC - Center d'entraînement au combat" (combat training center).

The 4 ^e groupe d'escadrons de hussards , staff and support regiment for the northeastern rural region and the individual formations in the garrison of Metz
The " 2 ^e régiment de dragons - nucléaire, biologique et chimique" (2nd dragoon regiment - NBC defense regiment ), formerly 2 ^e régiment de dragons in Fontevraud . Subordinated directly to the Commandement des forces terrestres .
School of the "Arme blindée et cavalerie" (EAABC), (School for building the cavalry of the future) in Saumur

In 2014 the 4 ^e régiment de dragons was dissolved. Thus its almost 350 years of regimental history came to an end. In the course of the dissolution of the 4 ^e RD, the 1 ^e régiment étranger de cavalerie of the Foreign Legion moved from Orange to the Camp de Carpiagne and took the place of the 4 ^e RD there.

Remarks

In terms of its tactical tasks, the French tank weapon was originally intended for infantry support and not as a rapid attack force. It was therefore not part of the cavalry (or cavalry tradition) as in Germany or the USA. This provision only changed after the Second World War, but it was still not assigned to the cavalry (with the tank reconnaissance or tank destroyer). Until the establishment of the "Arme blindée et cavalerie" belonged to the battle tank formations that were only set up in the course of the First World War, called "Chars de combat" and never been mounted, as well as the (similar, but mounted) battle tank formations of the cuirassiers, dragoons and hunters on horseback, the tank scouts, tank destroyers and armored security and support units to separate branches of service. The tradition plays a very important role in the naming, so the 2nd Dragoon Regiment became the ABC Defense Regiment and the 4th Hussar Regiment became a command and support regiment, without losing the name or the assignment to the original branch of service.

literature

Xavier Palson, La guerre de demain , Taillandé, 1984, ISBN 2-235-01600-6

Footnotes

Jump up ↑ tanks and cavalry weapons
↑ as armored weapons in France only those armored units are listed that were set up as such during the First World War (Régiments de char)
↑ The term cavalry has a wide variety of meanings in France and does not only apply to the reconnaissance force. The existing NBC defense regiment is also part of the cavalry, as it is run as a dragoon regiment.
↑ So the tank regiments (Régiments de char)
↑ Ie the tank regiments were always assigned to the infantry. There were no operational units of the armored force (brigades or divisions)
↑ In the French army, the units often keep their names even after the reclassification for reasons of tradition. When the 1st Hussar Regiment became a parachute unit, this was taken into account in the new name.
↑ Restructurations dans la Defense: les régiments et les sites qui seront touchés ( Memento of January 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

[1] Jump up ↑ tanks and cavalry weapons

[2] s armored weapons in France only those armored units are listed that were set up as such during the First World War (Régiments de char)

[3] The term cavalry has a wide variety of meanings in France and does not only apply to the reconnaissance force. The existing NBC defense regiment is also part of the cavalry, as it is run as a dragoon regiment.

[4] So the tank regiments (Régiments de char)

[5] Ie the tank regiments were always assigned to the infantry. There were no operational units of the armored force (brigades or divisions)

[6] In the French army, the units often keep their names even after the reclassification for reasons of tradition. When the 1st Hussar Regiment became a parachute unit, this was taken into account in the new name.

[7] Restructurations dans la Defense: les régiments et les sites qui seront touchés ( Memento of January 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive )