Belgian Land Component
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| Land Component of the Belgian Armed Forces | |
|---|---|
 A detachment of the 2nd/4th Regiment Mounted Rifles |
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| Active | 1830-2002: Army 2002-present: Land Component |
| Country |  Belgium |
| Allegiance | Belgium |
| Size | 24,361 military personnel; 10,000 civilian personnel |
| Commanders | |
| Commander | Major-General Eddy Testelmans |
The Land Component (French: Composante Terre, Dutch: Landcomponent), formerly the Belgian Army, is the land-based service of the Belgian Armed Forces. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Eddy Testelmans.
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[edit] History
- See article: Battle of France
- See article: Belgian Army 1940
The Belgian Army was organized as follows in 1940. The King of Belgium was the commander in chief. There were 100,000 active duty personnel with army strength reaching 550,000 when mobilized. There were five corps, including three Active Army Corps (Infantry); Brussels, Antwerp, and Liege and later as follows:
The I Corps with the 1st, 4th, and 7th Infantry Divisions, the II Corps with the 6th, 11th, and 14th Infantry Divisions, the III Corps with the 1st Chasseurs Ardennais and the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions, the IV Corps with the 9th, 15th, and 18th 18th Infantry Divisions, and the V and VI Corps with three divisions each. Army Corps consisted of Corps Staff, two active and several reserve Infantry Divisions, Corps Artillery Regiment of 4 battalions of two batteries with 16 artillery pieces per battalion, and a Pioneer regiment.
The Infantry divisions had a division staff and three Infantry Regiments each of 3,000 men. each Regiment had 108 light machineguns, 52 heavy machineguns, nine heavy mortars or Infantry gun howitzers, and six antitank guns.
There was also a cavalry Corps of two divisions.
Within the Free Belgian Forces that were formed in Great Britain during the occupation of Belgium between 1940-45, there was a land force formation, the 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade. During the Cold War, Belgium provided the I Belgian Corps (HQ Haelen Kaserne, Junkersdorf, Lindenthal (Cologne)), consisting in the 1980s of the 1st Division and 16th Mechanised Division (HQ Nehiem, FRG), to NATO's Allied Forces Central Europe for the defence of West Germany.[1]
[edit] Structure
The Land Component is organised using the concept of capacities, whereby units are gathered together according to their function and material. Within this framework, there are five capacities: the command capacity, the combat capacity, the support capacity, the services capacity and the training capacity.
The command capacity groups the following levels of command: COMOPSLAND (Operational Command of the Land Component), Immediate Reaction Cell Command (the Para-Commando units), 1st Brigade (the operational staff of the Dutch-speaking Brigade at Leopoldsburg) and 7th Brigade (the operational staff of the French-speaking Brigade at Marche-en-Famenne).
The combat capacity comprises the main fighting units of the Land Component. It consists of three Para-Commando battalions, four infantry battalions and two tank battalions. The infantry battalions are the Regiment Liberation - 5th of the Line, the Regiment Carabiniers Prince Baudouin - Grenadiers, the Regiment of Ardennes Rifles and the Regiment 12th of the Line Prince Leopold - 13th of the Line. The tank battalions are the 1st/3rd Lancers Regiment and the 2nd/4th Lancers Regiment.
The support capacity is, as its name suggests, the support arm of the Land Component and comprises two reconnaissance units, a unit for information analysis, civilian-military cooperation and operational communication unit (known as the Information Operations Group or 17 Recce, based at Heverlee), the Special Forces Group, three artillery units and two engineer battalions. The reconnaissance units are the 1st Regiment Mounted Rifles - Guides and the 2nd/4th Regiment Mounted Rifles. The artillery units are the 1st Field Artillery Regiment, the 2nd Field Artillery Regiment/Field Artillery Battery ParaCommando and the 14th Air Defence Artillery Regiment. The engineer battalions are the 4th and the 11th Engineer Battalion.
The service capacity comprises communication and information systems (CIS) groups, six logistics battalions, the Military Police Group and the Military Detachment Palace of the Nation, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (known as DOVO in Dutch and SEDEE in French, the Movement Control Group and the training centres and camps. The five CIS groups are: the 2nd, the 4th, the 5th, the 6th and the 10th Group CIS. The logistics battalions are: the 4th, the 8th, the 18th, the 20th, the 29th and the 51st Logistics Battalion. The Belgian Military Police Group (Groupe Police Militaire / Groep Militaire Politie - Gp MP) is a joint force made up of about 200 personnel assigned to five detachments located around the country. The Military Police Group staff is located in the Queen Elizabeth Barracks in the Brussels suburb of Evere. Alpha Detachment located at Evere covers the province of Flemish Brabant and the capital, Brussels. Bravo Detachment covers Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and Namur areas and is located at Nivelles. Charlie Detachment located at Marche-en-Famenne covers the Liege and Luxembourg areas. Delta Detachment covers the Limburg and Antwerp areas and is located at Leopoldsburg. Echo Detachment located at Lombardsijde covers West and East Flanders.
The training capacity comprises four departments: the Training Department Infantry at Arlon, the Training Department Armour-Cavalry at Leopoldsburg, the Training Department Artillery at Brasschaat and the Training Department Engineers at Namur.
Some of the regiments in the Land Component, such as the Regiment 12th of the Line Prince Leopold - 13th of the Line, have names consisting of multiple elements. This is the result of a series of amalgamations which took place over the years. The Regiment 12th of the Line Prince Leopold - 13th of the Line was created in 1993 as a result of the merger of the 12th Regiment of the Line Prince Leopold and the 13th Regiment of the Line.
There are two Brigades and one Immediate Reaction Cell, the successor of the Para-Commando Brigade. They are organised as follows:
| 1 Brigade | 7 Brigade | Immediate Reaction Cell |
| HQ Company "8/9 Linie" | HQ Company "2 Chasseurs à Pied" | HQ Company "Rgt. ParaCommando" |
| Armored Regiment "2/4 Lansiers" | Armored Regiment "1/3 Lanciers" | 1st Paratroop Battalion |
| Armored Recon Rgt. "1 Jagers te Paard/Gidsen" | Armored Recon Rgt. "2/4 de Chasseurs à Cheval" | 2nd Commando Battalion |
| Mech. Inf. Rgt. "Carabiniers Prins Boudewijn- Grenadiers" | Mech. Inf. Rgt. "12 Ligne Prince Léopold- 13 Ligne" | 3rd Paratroop Battalion |
| Mechanized Inf. Rgt. "Bevrijding- 5 Linie" | Mechanized Inf. Rgt. "Chasseurs Ardennais" | |
| 2nd Field Artillery Regiment | 1st Field Artillery Regiment |
[edit] Equipment
[edit] Weapons
- FN GP - 9 mm pistol.
- FN Five-seven - 5.7 mm pistol (pilots only).
- FN P90 - 5.7 mm submachine gun. (personal defence weapon used by selected troops, including special forces).
- FN FNC - 5.56 mm assault rifle. (standard service rifle).
- FN F2000 - 5.56 mm assault rifle. (used by special forces, and elsewhere in limited quantities to serve alongside the FN FNC).
Accuracy International Arctic Warfare. - 7.62 mm sniper rifle.- FN Minimi - 5.56 mm light machine gun.
- FN MAG - 7.62 mm general purpose machine gun.
M2HB - 12.7 mm heavy machine gun.- M72 LAW - 66 mm anti-tank rocket.
- Mecar M72 HE grenade - fragmentation hand grenade
- M18 grenade - coloured smoke hand grenade.
- Mecar M93BG grenade - rifle grenade for the FN FNC.
HAFLA - small flame thrower / incendiary device.
/ Germany MILAN - guided anti-tank missile.- MISTRAL - infra-red surface-to-air missile.
- LG1 Mark II - 105 mm towed howitzer.
- 120 RT Mortar - 120 mm mortar.
- M1 Mortar - 81 mm mortar.
- M19 Mortar - 60 mm mortar.
- M6A2 Mine - anti-tank mine.
[edit] Vehicles
The Belgian Army is currently undergoing a major re-equipment programme of most of its vehicles. The aim is to phase out all tracked vehicles in favour of wheeled vehicles. Consequently, both types are in service at present. This transition will be complete by 2015.
[edit] Armoured Fighting Vehicles
| Model | Image | Type | Number | Dates | Builder | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mowag Piranha III |  |
8 × 8 Wheeled AFV | 242 | N/A | General Dynamics European Land Combat Systems |
replacing the Leopard 1A5 main battle tank and the AIFV-B tracked infantry fighting vehicles |
| Pandur |  |
6 × 6 Wheeled AFV | 60 | N/A | General Dynamics European Land Combat Systems  Austria |
replacing the AIFV-B and M113 tracked infantry fighting vehicles |
| M113 |  |
AFV | 190 | N/A | Food Machinery Corp  United States |
514 originally; are being replaced by Mowag Piranha III and Pandur. |
[edit] Utility Vehicles
| Model | Image | Type | Number | Dates | Builder | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Krauss-Maffei Wegmann Dingo 2 |  |
armoured reconnaissance vehicle | 220 | N/A | Krauss-Maffei Wegmann ,  Germany |
+132 options |
| Iveco LMV 4 × 4 |  |
Light Utility Vehicle | 960 | N/A | Iveco,  Italy |
lightly armoured utility vehicle replacing the Volkswagen Iltis |
| M-Gator |  |
Light Utility Vehicle/All Terrain Vehicle | N/A | N/A | Deere & Company, United States |
6x4 light utility buggy for medical evacuation |
| JCB Groundhog | N/A | Light Utility Vehicle/All Terrain Vehicle | N/A | N/A | J. C. Bamford,  United Kingdom |
4x4 light utility buggy for airborne units |
| BMW R 1150 RT | N/A | Military Police motorcycle | N/A | N/A | BMW Germany |
Military Police motorcycle |
| Unimog U1350L | N/A | Light Utility Vehicle | N/A | N/A | Unimog, Germany |
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| Volvo Trucks N10 | N/A | Medium Logistic Vehicle, Wheeled | N/A | N/A | Volvo Trucks,  Sweden |
10T 6x4 medium truck |
Iveco M250.45WM - 8T 6x6 medium truck
URO VAMTAC - 4x4 light truck for NBC decontamination
Iveco EuroCargo - 7.5T 4x2 light truck- Mercedes-Benz 814 Transporter - light truck
- Iveco EuroTrakker MP410 E44H - 16T 8x4 heavy truck for containerised transport
- Scania T144 - 6x4 tank transporter
- Scania P124 CA - 6x4 heavy plant transporter
- Renault Kerax - 30T 8x4 heavy recovery vehicle
- Caterpillar D6 - tracked bulldozer
- Case 9013 - tracked excavator
- Liebherr Litronic 912 - tracked excavator
- /
Fiat-Hitachi W170 - wheeled loader - Krupp AS35 - wheeled lifting crane
- Grove GMK3050 - wheeled all-terrain crane
In addition a number of other light utility vehicles are used.
[edit] Ranks
Ranks in use by the Belgian Army are listed at Military of Belgium.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Steven J. Zaloga, Tank War: Central Front NATO vs Warsaw Pact, Osprey Elite 26, 1989, p.25. See also (Fr) Les Forces Belges en Allemagne, accessed April 2009
[edit] External links
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