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French Army

Components Army Light Aviation Armoured Cavalry Troupes de marine French Foreign Legion Chasseurs alpins List of current regiments Structure of the French Army Administration Chief of Staff of the French Army Equipment Modern Equipment History History of the French Army Timeline of the French Army Personnel List of senior officers Rank insignia Awards Croix de guerre Médaille militaire Légion d'honneur Awards

The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre (English: Land Army), is the land-based component of the French Armed Forces and its largest. As of 2008, the army employs 133,947 regular soldiers and 24 000+ civilians^[1]. All soldiers are now considered professionals, following the suspension of conscription in 1996.

During the professionalisation process, numbers dropped from the 1996 236,000 (132,000 conscripts) to around 140,000.^[2] By June 1999, the Army's strength had dropped to 186,000, including around 70,000 conscripts. Thirty-eight of 129 regiments were planned to be stood down from 1997-99. The previous structure's nine 'small' divisions and sundry separate combat and combat support brigades were replaced by nine combat and four combat support brigades.

During the Cold War, the French Army, though not part of NATO's military command structure, actively planned for the defence of Western Europe.^[3] II Corps (France) was stationed in South Germany, and effectively formed a reserve for NATO's Central Army Group. In the 1980s, III Corps headquarters was moved to Lille and planning started for its use in support of NATO's Northern Army Group. The Rapid Action Force of five light divisions was also intended as a NATO reinforcement force.

Contents 1 Organisation 1.1 Statistics 2 Photo Gallery 3 Principles and values 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Organisation

The army is divided into different Corps or armes. These units retain both symbolic and non symbolic and administrative values.

• Troupes de Marine composed of:
  • Marine Infantry (Infanterie de Marine, including parachute regiments such as 1er RPIMa and light cavalry such as RICM)
  • Marine Artillery (Artillerie de Marine)
• Foreign Legion (Légion étrangère)
• Armoured Cavalry (Arme Blindée Cavalerie)
• Artillery;
• Army Light Aviation (Aviation Légère de l'Armée de Terre - ALAT), including combat helicopters;
• Military engineers (Génie Militaire);
• Infantry,
  • including specialist mountain infantry (Chasseurs Alpins)
• Maintenance (Matériel)
• Logistics (Train)
• Signals (Transmissions)
• Commissary

The operational organisation of the Army combines units from various Corps in 17 Brigades.

[edit] Statistics

French Armée de Terre statistics
Personnel (Regular Army)	134,000
Personnel (Reserve Forces)	15,800
Main Battle Tanks	400 Leclercs (as of 2008), 17 AMX-30B2s
Tank destroyers	192 ERC-90s, 300 AMX-10RCs
Reconnaissance vehicles	1100 VBLs,
Infantry Fighting vehicles	601 AMX-10Ps. To be replaced by the VBCI (550 combat version and 150 command version)
Armoured Personnel Carriers	3,800 VABs
Artillery pieces and mortar	105 TRF1s, 72 Caesar systems (currently being delivered), 134 AMX 30 AuF1s , 48 MLRSs, MO-120-RT-61
Aircraft	5 Pilatus PC-6 Porter, 12 Socata TBM700[4]
Helicopters	80 Eurocopter Tigers (12 already delivered), 8 EC-725s, 18 AS-555s, 27 AS-532, 230 Gazelles, 90 SA-330s[4]
Mine detection	5 Chubby (mine detection system)
Motorcycles	Cagiva 350 T4

[edit] Photo Gallery

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Véhicule Blindé de Combat d'Infanterie	French soldiers with SPECTRA helmet of the IFOR in Mostar, 1995. An AMX 30 AuF1 self-propelled gun can be seen in the background.	Eurocopter Tiger	Leclerc Tank
Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé	Artillery vehicle AMX 30 AuF1

[edit] Principles and values

French Military

Components French Air Force French Army French Navy Gendarmerie Ranks Ranks in the French Army Ranks in the French Navy History of the French Military Military History of France La Grande Armée

The principles and values of the French Army are formulated in the Code of the French Soldier:

“

(...) Mastering his own strength, he respects his opponent and is careful to spare civilians. He obeys orders while respecting laws, customs of war and international conventions.(...) He is aware of global societies and respects their differences. (...) [5]

”

[edit] See also

• Military of France
• Ranks in the French Army

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Military equipment of France

• (French) Official website
• French Military Reform: Lessons for America's Army?, George A. Bloch (includes explanations of the structure of command)

v • d • e Vehicles of the French Army Armoured cavalry AMX-30 - ERC 90 Sagaie - AMX 10 RC - Leclerc - AMX-10P - AuF1 - VAB - VBL - VBCI Artillery, transport and combat engineering AuF1 - MLRS - TRF1 - Caesar - Peugeot P4 - ACMAT - SYRANO - EBG - EFA - DNG French Army Light Aviation Alouette III - Gazelle - Puma - Super Puma- Tiger - Fennec - Cougar - NH90

(*))