Armoured Cavalry Arm
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The Armoured Cavalry Arm (french: Arme blindée et cavalerie, ABC) () is a component of the
French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...
. It was formed after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
by merging the combat
tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
and
cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
branches. It operates the majority of France's armoured vehicles, though a small minority of France's armour is still operated by infantry regiments. It continues the traditions of the French cavalry and combat tank branches from which it is descended, as well as those of the defunct
horse artillery Horse artillery was a type of light, fast-moving, and fast-firing artillery which provided highly mobile fire support, especially to cavalry units. Horse artillery units existed in armies in Europe, the Americas, and Asia, from the early 17th to t ...
, from which it is not actually descended. Its training establishment is the Cavalry School in
Saumur Saumur () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc.. Saumur statio ...
.


Military doctrine

The employment doctrine of the Arme blindée et cavalerie includes the traditional missions of the
cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
adapted to a modern context: * Rupture of the front, using the charge (jointly with
aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...
); * Exploitation of this rupture, thanks to the speed of movement given by motorized and all-terrain vehicles * Cover of a retreat, a friendly body, a void between two friendly bodies by mask effect * Reconnaissance (but in an increasingly limited way, aviation, radars and satellites having largely supplanted it in this mission) Since the end of the
USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, the usefulness of the armoured troops has sometimes been questioned, however it has participated in all major external operations in
Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
,
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
,
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
. For the latter country, it is clear that the terrain lends itself poorly to the use of armored vehicles: a strong relief making maneuvers complicated, the French armored cavalry deployed has less than 120 men, or less than 3% of the workforce. Finally, the regiments saw their number of squadrons reduced but 20% of them are also permanently projected.


List of regiments

In 2020, the Armoured Cavalry Branch of the French Army consisted of: 3 Tank regiments, which field 60x Leclerc
main battle tank A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the role of armor-protected direct fire and maneuver in many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more powerful engines, better suspension sys ...
s each: * 1er Régiment de Chasseurs (1er RCh) in
Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...
* 5e Régiment de Dragons (5e RD) in
Mailly-le-Camp Mailly-le-Camp () is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France. History The town is mentioned as ''Mailliacus'' for the first time in 859 AD document. In 1902 a large military camp was built in its territory. On 3–4 May 194 ...
* 501e Régiment de Chars de Combat (501e RCC) in
Mourmelon-le-Grand Mourmelon-le-Grand () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. Population Camp de Châlons The ''camp de Châlons'', also known as ''camp de Mourmelon'', is a military camp of circa 10,000 hectares near Mourmelon-le-Grand ...
5 Cavalry regiments, which field a mix of
AMX 10 RC The AMX-10 RC is a French armoured fighting vehicle manufactured by GIAT for armoured reconnaissance purposes. Equipping French cavalry units since 1981, over 240 are still in service with the French Army as of 2021. In addition, 108 units were s ...
and ERC 90 wheeled tanks: * 1er Régiment Étranger de Cavalerie (1er REC) in
Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
* 1er Régiment de
Spahis Spahis () were light-cavalry regiments of the French army recruited primarily from the indigenous populations of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. The modern French Army retains one regiment of Spahis as an armoured unit, with personnel now r ...
(1er RS) in Valence *
1er Régiment de Hussards Parachutistes The 1st Parachute Hussar Regiment (french: List of French paratrooper units, 1er Régiment de Hussards Parachutistes, List of French paratrooper units, 1er RHP) is an List of French paratrooper units, airborne cavalry unit in the French Army, fou ...
(1er RHP) in
Tarbes Tarbes (; Gascon: ''Tarba'') is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. It is the capital of Bigorre and of the Hautes-Pyrénées. It has been a commune since 1790. It was known as ''Turba'' ...
* 3e Régiment de Hussards (3e RH) in
Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...
* 4e Régiment de Chasseurs (4e RCh) in Gap 4 combat support regiments: * 1er Régiment de
Chasseurs d'Afrique The ''Chasseurs d'Afrique'' were a light cavalry corps of chasseurs in the French Armée d'Afrique (Army of Africa). First raised in 1831 from regular French cavalry posted to Algeria, they numbered five regiments by World War II. For most of ...
(1er RCA) training regiment in
Canjuers Canjuers is a calcareous plateau and a military camp in Provence located in southeastern France. It’s the largest military camp in Continental Europe. Geography Situated in the ''département'' of the Var in the Prealps of Castellane, on the sou ...
* 2e Régiment de Dragons (2 RD) NBC-defense regiment in
Fontevraud-l'Abbaye Fontevraud-l'Abbaye () is a commune in the western French department of Maine-et-Loire. It is situated both in the Loire Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site between Chalonnes-sur-Loire and Sully-sur-Loire, and the Loire Anjou Touraine French ...
* 2e Régiment de Hussards (2e RH) reconnaissance regiment in
Haguenau Haguenau (; Alsatian: or ; and historically in English: ''Hagenaw'') is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department of France, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is second in size in the Bas-Rhin only to Strasbourg, some to the south. To the ...
* 13e Régiment de Dragons Parachutistes (13e RDP) long range reconnaissance regiment in
Martignas-sur-Jalle Martignas-sur-Jalle (; oc, Martinhàs de Jalas) is a commune in the Gironde department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Historically, the town is known to have been the theater of the , where 500 to 600 longbowmen commanded by John Tal ...
2 Troops Initial Formation Centres: * Centre de Formation Initiale des Militaires du rang 7e Brigade Blindée / 3e Régiment de Chasseurs d'Afrique (CFIM 7e BB - 3e RCA), in
Valdahon Valdahon () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Population See also * Communes of the Doubs department The following is a list of the 571 communes of the Doubs department of Franc ...
* Centre de Formation Initiale des Militaires du rang de la 2e Brigade Blindée / 12e Régiment de Chasseurs d'Afrique (CFIM 2e BB - 12e RCA), in
Bitche Bitche ( , ; German and Lorraine Franconian: ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments of France, department, administrative regions of France, administrative region of Grand Est, northeastern France. It ...
1 overseas regiment: * 5e Régiment de Cuirassiers (5e RC) in
Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...
(
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
)


Training


Cavalry School

At the end of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the cavalry (mainly in charge of reconnaissance) and the battle tanks merged to give birth to the Armored Weapon and Cavalry (ABC). The Saumur Cavalry Application School then became the Armor and Cavalry Application School (EAABC). The Saumur Armored Museum, originally called the “Armored Equipment Documentation Center” (CEDB), was founded in 1965 to help train EAABC students.


CSEM

The Military Equestrian Sports Center (CSEM), located in
Fontainebleau Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissement ...
(Seine-et-Marne) trains soldiers and French army horses in equestrian sports with the aim of participating in national and international competitions. Since 1977, the CSEM has guarded the standard of the 8th Dragoon Regiment.CSEM sur le site du ministère de la défense
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Notes and references


External links

*
Official site of the Arme Blindée Cavalerie
*
Site of the UNABCC
*
Site on French tanks
* {{in lang, fr}
Forum on armoured engines
* http://cavaliers.blindes.free.fr/ Articles with empty sections from July 2010 All articles with empty sections Nationstate armoured warfare branches Arms of the French Army Military articles needing translation from French Wikipedia