Armoured Cavalry Arm

The Armoured Cavalry Arm (Arme blindée et cavalerie, ABC) (aʁm blɛ̃de e kavalʁi) is a component of the French Army. It was formed after World War II by merging the combat tank and 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, from which it is not actually descended. Its training establishment is the Cavalry School in Saumur. The employment doctrine of the Arme blindée et cavalerie includes the traditional missions of the cavalry adapted to a modern context: Rupture of the front, using the charge (jointly with aviation); 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 usefulness of the armoured troops has sometimes been questioned, however it has participated in all major external operations in Bosnia, Lebanon, Africa and Afghanistan. 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.