French Army: News

"The number of young French people hoping to join the military has tripled in the wake of the country's terror attacks, according to official figures. Recruiters are dealing with an average 1,500 applications a day compared to 500 a day before the Nov. 13 massacre in Paris that killed 130 people, Reuters reported. Visits to air force recruitment offices have also tripled and requests for information are 20 times higher, according to figures on the military's website. The number of applications to join the French navy doubled during 2015 compared to last year, it said. France remains on maximum alert since last month's massacre, with President Francois Hollande declaring a state of emergency and deploying over 1,500 additional troops onto the streets.

In addition to the November atrocity, the country has been dealing with the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo shooting and related attacks in January, which left 17 people dead. Applications to join the country's land forces have already topped 170,000 in 2015 - a 41 percent rise on the 120,000 recorded in 2014 - the figures showed. By comparison, the uptick in U.S. military recruitment in the wake of 9/11 was relatively modest. By 2005, when the U.S. was embroiled in the worst of the civil war in Iraq, the Army missed its recruiting goal by nearly 7,000 soldiers, according to the New York Times. "This reaction makes me happy as a French soldier, to see that French youngsters are wishing to serve their country and their fellow citizens, by helping to establish peace when their country is in need," said Colonel Bruno Bert, head of military recruitment for the Paris region. "I think it is a reaction from young French people who felt threatened, who felt that they were being attacked because of the attacks on Nov. 13. It is a reaction which in some ways is totally natural, it is the reaction when one is faced with a threat."

Alice Van Praet, who visited a recruitment center in the eastern Paris suburb of Vincennes, said that the attacks had only served to reinforce her desire to participate in army efforts."

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/paris-terror-attacks/french-military-enrollment-triples-after-paris-terror-attacks-n474781

France plans to increase the number of modernized Leclerc tanks from 200 to 225

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/1734291.html

The first live-fire of French MLRS LRU against Islamists in Mali



Three combat vehicles MLRS LRU from the 1st Artillery Regiment of the French army (in Belfort) were deployed to the theater of combat operations in February 2016. A total of 13 military vehicles LRU are in the French army.

MLRS LRU (Lance-roquettes unitaire) is the modernization of combat vehicles known 227-mm 12-charging MLRS M270 MLRS, produced by issued by the General Directorate of arms (Direction générale de l'armement - DGA) French Ministry of Defense in 2011, Franco-German contract a consortium comprising the companies Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), Airbus Defence & Space, Sagem and Thales.
Total modernization undergone by LRU embodiment in 13 of 57 combat vehicles MLRS of French army. The 13 upgraded vehicles were handed over to the customer in 2011-2014 and included in the 1st Artillery Regiment (MLRS other French deposited).
LRU equipped with upgraded fire control system EFCS, the new navigation system (using GPS) and the new communication system, and are designed for use correctable missiles M31 GMLRS. In addition, the launcher introduced electric actuators instead of hydraulic guidance, and improved cockpit book.

For LRU systems ordered 504 GMLRS missiles monoblock warheads for delivery in 2013-2016. Actual revenues GMLRS missiles in firing units of the 1st Artillery Regiment, were launched in late 2014.

Recall that the French Navy is also considering the possibility of applying MLRS LRU on deck of their amphibious assault ship Mistral type.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/1776311.html

First pics of the upgrade French Leclerc

They favorites of the French tender for a new automatic rifle became known

As the portal «Sentinelles» in the material «Remplaçant du FAMAS: H & K et FN Herstal au coude à coude» became known that the 5.56-mm automatic rifle Heckler & Koch HK416 (Germany) and the Belgian FN SCAR reached the final tender, which aims to find a replacement for the famous French rifle FAMAS. Study documentation volume of several thousand pages should not take much time, and the final decision should take the French military during the month. The main control arms (DGA) French Ministry of Defense officially the winner will be announced in the gap between November 2016 and January 2017.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2002159.html

French Army acquires Aculeus-LG induction laser guided rocket

• IOC expected in 2019 timeframe

• New round includes SAL homing and a new low CDE warhead

Under the provisions of a three-phase contract awarded by the French General Directorate for Armament (Direction générale de l'armement: DGA) in early July, and valued at tens of millions of Euros , TDA (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Thales Group) will manufacture, qualify, and launch serial production of an initial batch of 68 mm Aculeus-LG induction laser-guided rockets (ILGRs) to equip ALAT Airbus Helicopters Tiger HAD (Hélicoptère d'Appui Destruction)-standard combat platforms.

Matthieu Krouri, senior manager of Airborne Weapons Systems at TDA, told IHS Jane's that the initial contract provides for "more than 1,000 Aculeus-NG rounds", with a potential for additional follow-on orders.

A development of TDA's Metric Precision Rocket (Roquette à Précision Métrique: RPM) initiative under the DGA's Metric Precision Munition programme, the Aculeus-LG ILGR is evolved from TDA's series of 68 mm induction unguided rocket systems. The company has, with DGA's support, been conducting research and development (R&D) on a new laser-guided variant for the past five years. In January and April 2013, the first airborne trials were conducted with a Eurocopter Tiger HAP, to prove the rocket's launch and separation characteristics. In July 2013, TDA conducted the first fully guided firing from a Tiger.

However, development of the baseline Aculeus-LG is now finalised, Krouri confirmed. Full qualification of the round, in partnership with the DGA, will be conducted in 2018, following which it will be sent to the French Army for evaluation. An initial operating capability (IOC) with ALAT is expected in the 2019 timeframe. Krouri said that the industrialisation phase of the contract allows for additional design input into the final product.

Rifle Heckler & Koch HK416 is named the winner of the tender of the French army



http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2124174.html

French SPH CAESAR have shown good results in Iraq



http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2298256.html

The new tank of the French army will be Franco-German development

As Jean-Dominique Merchet writes in the note "Le char futur sera franco-allemand", published in the French magazine L'Opinion, the head of the French Armed Forces General Directorate of Defense (DGA), Laurent Collet-Billon, March 6, 2017 Year concluded a "bet". It is that approximately in 2030 "the future tank [of the French army] will be Franco-German." During the press conference, he added that "the chassis and engine-transmission department will be German, and the tower - French." The tank will be produced by KNDS, created by the merger of the German company Krauss Maffei Wegmann and the French Nexter Systems.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2475306.html

Costs for the maintenance and level of serviceability of ground forces of the French army

Restless deputy of the National Assembly of France Francois Cornu-Gentius continues to send requests to the French Ministry of Defense regarding the level of combat capability of the French army. According to Jean-Dominique Merchet, in the French newspaper L'Opinion, based on the answers of the French Ministry of Defense to the requests of the said MP, the cost of maintaining one Leclerc tank of the French army in 2016, according to the publication "20,000 euros par mois pour un Leclerc opérationnel" Amounted to 246,249 euros, that is, in the month it reached almost 20,000 euros. That is, the maintenance of the Leclerc tank fleet (241 units in the French army), whose average age reaches 15 years, is almost 60 million euros per year. At the same time, the Leclerc tank readiness rate at the end of 2016 reached 61% (a 4% decrease compared to 2015). That is, on average, the number of serviceable tanks reaches 147 units.


It is also reported that the level of serviceability of tank transport vehicles TRM 700/100 is very low - only 35%, that is, for a fleet of 116 vehicles this means an average of 40 vehicles on the go.

The cost of servicing the VBCI armored personnel carrier is 54,107 euros, with an average age of six years. The troops have 625 VBCIs, their level of service is 74%.

At the same time, a number of samples of equipment shows a very low level of serviceability, less than 50% is a light armored vehicle PVP (31%, in the French army there are 1176 units), heavy armored car AMX-10RCR (48%, 249 units, one more than Was in 2015), VAB armored personnel carrier (42%, 2475 units) and TRM 10000 trucks (38%, 1199 units).

At the same time, only 171 mortars of 120 mm caliber were listed in the French army, of which only 51% were serviceable. In the army there were also 77 self-propelled 155mm howitzers CAESAR, with a level of serviceability of 68%. The cost of servicing one SAES CAU per year is 78068 euros, while one 120mm mortar is only 120 euros.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2551546.html

The French army received the first shipment of automatic rifles Heckler & Koch HK416F

The first batch of 400 HK416F rifles (out of 117,000 ordered for the three types of armed forces) was transferred to the DGA on May 3, which in turn would deliver them to the Land Force (93080 rifles ordered).



Deliveries will be made within 10 years under a contract worth 350 million euros (including the supply of spare parts, the training of the first users and the initial maintenance). In 2017, 5,300 rifles will be transferred to the army. Then, until 2023, 10,000 rifles will be delivered annually. And before 2028 the pace of supply will drop to 5000 rifles annually.

The automatic rifle HK416F has a caliber of 5.56 mm, it can shoot rifle grenades, and can also get a 40 mm grenade launcher. The rifle has a Pikatini bar, it features a modular design and an adjustable butt. According to the technical section of the Ground Forces, it is possible to produce up to 30,000 shots from a rifle without compromising accuracy.

Two versions of the rifle have been adopted for the Army: the standard version with a barrel length of 90 cm for the first-line units (38,500 units, of which 14915 will be adapted for the FELIN serviceman's outfit in 2020-2021) and a short-barreled version with a barrel length of 80 cm.
The first 400 rifles will be transferred to Larzac, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced in October 2016, and that the 13th Brigade of the Foreign Legion will be the first unit of the Ground Forces rearmed to a new rifle.

The first users from the beginning of April are trained under the guidance of an instructor of the technical section of the Ground Forces. In June, the first 250 rifles will be transferred to the 1st company and the platoon to facilitate the landing. In October, 250 new rifles will be delivered to the pyramids of the 1st company. Training in shooting will begin immediately after receiving rifles

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2587252.html

Schedule of automatic rifles HK416F for the French army

On the page of the French ground forces in the social network "Twitter" is a visual infographics that covers the issue of deliveries to the troops of the new 5.56-mm automatic rifles Heckler & Koch HK416F, adopted by the French army. The first picture reflects the overall situation of the PPO program, the second - the schedule of deliveries of the screw in 2017-2018 in specific French units and units.





http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2662120.html

During the traditional military parade in Paris on July 14, 2017 in honor of the national holiday of France, the Bastille Day, this year also dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the arrival of American troops in France during the First World War, samples of modern French military equipment with samples of military equipment of the First World War. The parade was attended by US President Donald Trump.

In particular, the modern French tank Leclerc was held in the same ranks with the French tank Saint-Chamond of the 1917 model, the modern VBCI armored vehicle was in service with another French tank Schneider CA1 M2 of the 1916 model, and the modern 155 mm / 52 self-propelled howitzer CAESAR in I am building with a car of the Renault EG15 of the 1914 model, towing 155-mm gun 155 GPF mle.1917. Also on the parade was a lightweight Renault FT tank on a trailer towed by a Latil TAR (4x4) tractor of the 1914 model.






http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2731276.html

The French army receives new body armor SMB

According to the Ministry of Defense of France, infantrymen were the first to receive a batch of new bulletproof SMB (modular ballistic structure, structure modulaire balistique), compatible with the French individual equipment FELIN soldier in the number of 8600 pieces. During this year, bulletproof vests will enter new units and units of the French Army. In total, in 2017-2019, 22,000 SMB body armor should be delivered. The new bulletproof vest is a product of the merger of the existing body armor GPB and electronic waistcoat GE into a single structure. According to its characteristics, the new bulletproof vest surpasses all models that existed until today.

A waistcoat is actually a body armor, unloading, plus additional peripheral devices (radio, computer, charging) can be connected to it, which essentially allows to increase the capabilities of the serviceman.



http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2767986.html

The contract for the new French armored vehicles VBMR Leger

As reported by the French company Nexter Systems (KNDS), on February 12, 2018, it received a contract from the French Defense Ministry's Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) for the development and production of armored vehicles VBMR Leger with the wheel arrangement 4x4 .

The VBMR Leger will be the third model of the perspective armored vehicles of the French army as part of the SCORPION program after previously contracted armored vehicles with the 6x6 VBMR Griffon and EBRC Jaguar armored vehicles (to be produced by the consortium Nexter, RTD and Thales).

The contract was awarded to Nexter based on the results of the tender, in which the main competitors were Renault Truck Defense (RTD, part of the Volvo group, offered the option of its ACMAT Bastion HM in tender) and the Thales group (proposed version of the famous Australian Bushmaster machine). In fact, it was reported that the VBMR Leger project from Nexter, selected by the French Ministry of Defense, is a lightweight biaxial version of the already known Nexter TITUS armored vehicle with a 6x6 wheel arrangement.

The VBMR Leger will be developed and manufactured in five contracted versions, including patrol (armored personnel carrier), reconnaissance vehicle, communications vehicle, EW machine, ambulance. In the future, it is possible to develop several more options (commander, engineer, machine of advanced artillery observers). The beginning of deliveries in the patrol version is planned for 2022. According to the recently announced draft of the French state arms program for the period 2019-2025, by 2025 the French armed forces are expected to supply 489 VBMR Leger vehicles (an increase from the previously planned 358), and by 2030 - 978 VBMR Leger vehicles. The cost of one machine in a series of purchases should be from 500 to 700 thousand euros.

Detailed characteristics of the VBMR Leger are not disclosed yet, but the French media reported that the machine should have a full combat weight of about 15 tons, enhanced mine protection and capacity in the patrol option of 10 equipped people equipped with the FELIN system. The machine will be equipped with the SCORPION combat information system (SICS) and a remotely controlled machine gun module.

Machines VBMR Leger will be produced at the head tank company Nexter in Roan, the contractor in the development and production of the chassis of the machine (suspension and transmission) will be the French company Texelis (Limoges).

The French army in the period from 2018 to 2031 plans to purchase 1668 armored vehicles VBMR Griffon (to replace the fleet of BTR VAB) and 248 armored cars EBRC Jaguar (for the replacement of cannon armored cars AMX-10RC and ERC-90S).

https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3091585.html

France has started receiving its 5th generation ATGM called MMP... take a look.

Isos wrote:

Easy target for active defences ... kinda slow missile. But the wire tv guidance is really good.

Doesnt seem much slower to me than any other ATGM out there. You should see Malyutka, you can write a letter home while it reaches max range.

Isos wrote:
Easy target for active defences ... kinda slow missile. But the wire tv guidance is really good.

Part of it looking slow on the impact is the camera having good stablisation. The Chinese one goes even slower but looks like it is going faster as it wobbles all over the place.

Isos wrote:

Speaking about the chinese, don't they have a 360° shtora-like jamer on their new tanks to defeat seakers like this one by burning the optics ?

I don't think it has any special jammer, their APS is called GL-5 but it is useless against top attack munitions as it only has a 20° elevation.