List of equipment of the French Army

Modern equipment of the French Army is a list of equipment currently in service with the French Army. Figures are provided by the French Ministry of Defense for 2018.[1]

French Army
Components
Administration
Chief of Army Staff
Equipment
Modern Equipment
Personnel
History
Military history of France
Awards

Infantry equipment

Pistols
Name Origin Type Cartridge Photo Notes
MAC 50  France Semi-automatic pistol 9 mm In service since 1953. Being replaced by Glock 17.
PAMAS G1  France
 Italy		 Semi-automatic pistol 9 mm Entered into operational service in 1989 with the national gendarmerie, in 1992 with the Air Force, and in 1999 for the Army and Navy. 97,502 weapons in 2002.[2] Being replaced by Glock 17.
Glock 17  Austria Semi-automatic pistol 9 mm G17 Gen 3 in service in the Special Forces and in some specialised units of the conventional forces (Engineer Corps Divers, Reconnaissance units, Foreign Legion commandos, Parachute Brigade commandos, Mountain commandos).

74,596 French specified G17 Gen 5 on order in order to replace MAC 50 and PAMAS G1 in general service.[3] 80% for the French Army (including Light Aviation, Marines and Foreign Legion), 10% for French Navy, 8% for French Air Force, 2% for the Services, to be delivered until 2022.

HK USP.SD  Germany Semi-automatic pistol 9 mm Used by French Army's special forces (Tactical version, retired), reconnaissance units (standard version) and French Navy (Compact version under the name PA HK Marine) for sailors and pilots.

Submachine guns
Name Origin Type Cartridge Photo Notes
HK MP5 A5
HK MP5 SD3		  Germany Submachine gun 9mm Used by French Army's special forces.
HK MP7 A1 and A2 GermanySubmachine gun4.6×30mm Used by French Army's special forces.
FN P90  Belgium Submachine gun 5.7x28mm Used by French Army's special forces.

Assault, battle rifles
Name Origin Type Cartridge Photo Notes
FAMAS F1  France Assault rifle 5.56mm The FAMAS remains the standard-issue service rifle of the French military, with over 700,000 in total delivered. Scheduled to be phased out of service in the mid 2020s.
HK416 A5
HK416 D14.5RS
HK416 F		  Germany Assault rifle 5.56mm The HK416F will replace the FAMAS as the standard-issue assault rifle beginning in 2017. 102,000 weapons have been ordered. 45,340 are in service in 2020.
FN SCAR-L  Belgium Assault rifle 5.56mm Used by French Army's special forces and reconnaissance units (Groupement Commandos Parachutistes) .
M16 A2 M203
M16 727 M203		  United States Assault rifle 5.56mm Used by French Army's special forces.

Shotguns
Name Origin Type Cartridge Photo Notes
Benelli M3T Super 90  Italy Semi-automatic shotgun 12-Gauge Used by French army's special forces.
Mossberg 500  United States Pump-action shotgun 12-Gauge Used by French army's special forces and units in French Guiana.

Sniper and anti-material rifles
Name Origin Type Cartridge Photo Notes
FR-F2  France Sniper rifle 7.62 mm In service since 1986.
PGM Ultima Ratio  France Sniper rifle 7.62 mm
HK MSG90  Germany Sniper rifle 7.62 mm
HK 417  Germany Battle rifle 7.62 mm
FN SCAR H PR  Belgium Battle rifle 7.62 mm Adopted in 2019 into replacement of the FRF2
PGM Hécate II  France Anti-materiel rifle 12.7 mm

Machine guns
Name Origin Type Cartridge Photo Notes
FN Minimi  Belgium Light machine gun 5.56mm
ANF1  France General purpose machine gun 7.62 mm
FN MAG  Belgium General purpose machine gun 7.62 mm 10, 881 ordered in 2011.
M2 Browning  United States Heavy machine gun .50 cal
M134  United States Six-barrelled gatling gun 7.62×51mm NATO Used by French army's special forces.

Portable anti-materiel weapons
Name Origin Type Caliber Photo Notes
AT4 CS  Sweden Anti-tank weapon 84mm

AT4 F2 : New generation in development since 2014 for the French army. It can fire an anti-armored rocket (ABL), an anti-structure rocket (AST) and an anti-personnel rocket (AP). Once coupled with a new non-disposable aiming aid, absent on the CS F1 version, the AP rocket will provide an effective airburst mode up to 1000 meters. Night firing capacity planned for 2020|[4]

MILAN  France
 Germany		 Anti-tank guided missile 115mm 457
FGM-148 Javelin  United States Fire-and-forget anti-tank missile 127mm 76
ERYX  France Anti-tank guided missile 136mm 650
MMP  France Fire-and-forget anti-tank missile 140mm 275 in july 2020 (400 have been ordered). Successor of MILAN.

Grenade-based weapons
Name Origin Type Caliber Photo Notes
LGI Mle F1 (Lance-grenade individuel Mle F1)  France Grenade launcher 51mm
Heckler & Koch AG36  Germany Grenade launcher 40mm Service in limited numbers since at least 2014. 10,767 ordered in September 2016.
M203 grenade launcher  United States Grenade launcher 40mm
Heckler & Koch GMG  Germany Grenade machine gun 40×53mm Used by French army's special forces.

Equipment

Vehicles

Armored vehicles
Name Origin Variant Number Photo Notes
Tanks
Leclerc  France Main battle tank 222[5] 184 in storage (406 in total). 200 will be upgraded to XLR-standard.
Armoured recce
AMX-10 RC  France Armoured recce 247 Will be replaced by EBRC Jaguar from 2020.[6]
ERC 90 Sagaie  France Armoured recce 40 Will be replaced by EBRC Jaguar from 2020.
Armoured personnel carriers
VBCI  France 628 110 of the vehicles are the armoured command variant.[7]
VBMR Griffon  France 220 (2020) 1872 are on order until 2030, and 978 of the Serval variant, which is a bit smaller and 4-Wheeled.
VAB  France 2,651 Will be replaced by VBMR Griffon from 2018.[6] Vehicle numbers include some: 100 VAB MILAN, 175 VAB ERYX, 25 VAB Reco,[8] 30 VCAC Mephisto and 89 VOA.
VHM
VHM Armoured[9][10]		  Sweden
 United Kingdom		 Armoured personnel carrier 88 Order split between Bv206S[11] and BvS10
VBL  France Armoured car 1390 730 to be upgraded to Ultima-standard with new engine, transmission, strengthend suspension and additional armour.
PVP  France Armoured car 1,149
Renault Sherpa 3  France Armoured car 6 180px Used as a carrier for Mistral
Armoured recovery
Leclerc DCL  France Armoured recovery vehicle 18 Will be upgraded to XLR-standard.
AMX-30D  France Armoured recovery vehicle 30

Engineering
Name Origin Variant Number Photo Notes
Armoured engineering vehicles
Nexter Aravis  France Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected 16
Buffalo  United States Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected 4
Engin Blindé du Génie  France Armoured engineering vehicle 40 Used with 10 SDPMAC (Mine Clearance Explosives) Systems.
MINOTAUR  France Anti-tank mines dispersion vehicle[12]
Unarmoured engineering vehicles
TNA  France Airborne leveling tractor 6[13]
MFRD  France Rapid destruction drilling truck 122
Liebherr LTM 1050-3.1  Germany Mobile crane 50
EGAME  France Bulldozer 35
SOUVIM  South Africa Interim Vehicle Mounted Mine Detector 8
MPG  France Loader ?
Caterpillar D6  United States Bulldozer 40
EGRAP  United Kingdom Backhoe loader 92
UNAC 20TRR  France Road–rail excavator 2[14]
Scania P340  Sweden Dump truck 161[15]
Bridging vehicles/Military Ferries
EFA  France Ferry/Mobile bridge 30 (2013)
PFM  France Mobile bridge 70 (2013)
SPRAT  France Modular assault bridge 10
Robots
ECA COBRA MK2  France Multi-function military robot 30 Used for Mine Clearing, Chemical detection, Reconnaissance
iRobot Packbot 510  United States Mine clearing robot 15
ECA UGV IGUANA  France Mine clearing robot 15 43 to be delivered until 2024

Unarmored vehicles
Name Origin Variant Number Photo Notes
Unarmoured vehicles
VLRA  France Truck
VMA  France Airport crash tender Used by French Army Light Aviation.[16]
Peugeot P4  France Light utility vehicle 2,500 13,500 delivered between 1982 and 1992, 600 withdrawn from service every year. Being replaced by VT4.
MassTech T4  Japan
 France		 Light utility vehicle 500[17] Delivery of 500 copies until end of May 2018. Based on Toyota Land Cruiser.
Ford Ranger  United States Light utility vehicle 1,000[18] Introduced as urgent operational requirement to replace Peugeot P4.
ACMAT VT4  France
 United States		 Light utility vehicle 2000

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/ACMAT_VT4_couleur_brun_%C2%AB_Terre_de_France_%C2%BB.jpg

 4380 planned. VLTP-NP based on Ford Everest and militarized by ACMAT.
Land Rover Defender  United Kingdom Light utility vehicle 550[19]
VPS[20]  France Light utility vehicle 51 Used by special forces. Replaced by 241 Special Forces Light Vehicles or VLFS (Arquus) from 2020.
Quad Polaris  United States All-terrain vehicle 348 300 Polaris Sportsman 700 and 48 Polaris MV 850. Used by French special forces.[21]
Renault Trafic III  France Minibus 60[22] Used by counter terrorist forces.
Renault Master II  France Van
Renault Kangoo  France Light utility vehicle 460[22] Used by counter terrorist forces.
Arquus AREG  France Light utility vehicle VLFS, replaces VPS from 2020.

Artillery and air-defence
Name Origin Variant Number Photo Notes
Self-propelled artillery
AMX 30 AuF1  France 155 mm self-propelled howitzer 32
CAESAR  France 155 mm wheeled self-propelled howitzer 77
Towed artillery
TRF1  France 155 mm towed howitzer 12
Rocket artillery
M270 MLRS  United States 227mm self-propelled multiple rocket launcher 13
Mortars
RTF1  France 120 mm mortar 132
Mo 81 LLR F1  France 81 mm mortar
M6 mortar  Austria 60 mm light mortar 120
Anti-aircraft artillery
Mistral  France Very short-range surface-to-air missile system 221

Logistics
Name Origin Variant Number Photo Notes
Porteur polyvalent terrestre (PPT)  France
 Italy
  • PPLOG: Logistic vehicle
  • PPLD: Recovery vehicle
 900 1600 on order
TRM 10000  France Truck ~1,000
TRM 700-100  France Truck 119
TRM 2000  France Truck 2225
Renault GBC 180  France Truck 5,500
Vehicule porte conteneurs maritimes (VPCM)  France
 United Kingdom		 8x8 container carrier 12
Tanker trucks
Camion citerne polyvalent (CCP10)  France
 Sweden		 6x6 fuel tanker truck 461
Camion Ravitailleur Pétrolier de l’Avant à Capacité Étendue (CaRaPACE)  France
 Sweden		 Armoured fuel tanker truck 34
Recovery vehicles
Camion lourd de depannage routier (CLDR)  France 8x4 recovery vehicle 50

Aircraft
Further information: French Army Light Aviation
Aircraft Origin Type Quantity[23] Photo Notes
Fixed-wing aircraft
Pilatus PC-6  SwitzerlandTransport and parachuting5
SOCATA TBM FranceVIP transport and utility8
Helicopters
Eurocopter Tiger HAP/HAD EuropeAttack helicopter6840 HAP and 28 HAD. (All HAP will be upgraded to HAD standard)[24][25]
NHIndustries NH90 EuropeTransport helicopter472 batches of 34 ordered in May 2013.[26] Six more helicopters were ordered in January 2016, bringing the total number of aircraft on order to 74.[27]
Aérospatiale Puma FranceTransport helicopter46Being replaced by NH90
Eurocopter Caracal FranceTransport helicopter8Transferred to the Air Force by 2021.
Eurocopter Cougar FranceTransport helicopter24
Aérospatiale Gazelle FranceReconnaissance helicopter86One lost on 11 January 2013.[28]
Eurocopter Fennec FranceTraining helicopter18
Eurocopter Calliope[29] EuropeTraining helicopter36
UAVs
Sperwer FranceReconnaissance23In service since 2005. Will be replaced from 2020 by the SAGEM Patroller.
EADS DRAC  France Reconnaissance 38[30]
Thales Spy'Ranger  France Reconnaissance 60 105 to be delivered in 2018 and 105 in 2019[31]
ECA IT180 DroGen  France Reconnaissance 5

References
  1. Chiffres cles de la Defense 2018
  2. "PAMAS G1". gendarmes.net/ (in French). Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  3. Kotlarski, Amael (7 January 2019). "France awards pistol and sniper rifle contracts". www.janes.com. IHS Jane's.
  4. Nathan Gain (25 November 2020). "Ces autres programmes d'équipement attendus pour 2020". /forcesoperations.com (in French). Retrieved 23 December 2019..
  5. https://www.acoram.fr/blog/2019/09/22/les-chiffres-cles-de-la-defense-2019/
  6. "France launches major new vehicle programmes - IHS Jane's 360". 1 February 2014. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014.
  7. "French receive 500th VBCI". Army Recognition. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  8. "FRANCE". Armedforces.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 January 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  9. "French Army receives first BvS10 vehicles". Army-technology.com. 29 November 2011. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  10. Christopher F. Foss (11 June 2011). "French Army builds up all-terrain fleet". Ihs.com. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  11. "Bv206S Tracked Armoured Personnel Carrier, Sweden". Army-technology.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  12. "Data". www.defense.gouv.fr. Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  13. "Un engin unique au monde développé pour les paras". Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  14. nous.fr. "UNAC - Actualités". www.unac-france.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  15. "28052009La Délégation générale pour l'armement passe commande de 161 porteurs P 340 CB6X6HHZ à Scania". Scania France. Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  16. "Pompiers aéroportuaires : les anges gardiens de l'aviation - avionslegendaires.net". 19 April 2012. Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  17. "VLTP : il arrive ! Et le Masstech T4 de Technamm ?". 5 September 2017.
  18. "Quand l'armée française préfère rouler américain". 4 May 2015.
  19. "Defender : le véhicule polyvalent de l'armée de Terre" (in French). defense.gouv.fr. 28 June 2010. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  20. "VPS Light 4x4 Special Forces patrol vehicle". Armyrecognition.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  21. "Data". www.defense.gouv.fr.
  22. "Le ministère de la Défense a commandé 520 véhicules pour l'opération Sentinelle". Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  23. "Les chiffres clé de la defense edition 2018" (in French and English).
  24. "Qualification finale du Tigre en version appui-destruction (HAD)". Defense.gouv.fr. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  25. Tran, Pierre (8 August 2017). "France Boosts Arms Spending, Eyes C-130 Buy".
  26. "France Orders 34 More NH90 Helicopters". www.defense-aerospace.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  27. "French Army Light Aviation to receive six more NH90s | IHS Jane's 360". www.janes.com. Archived from the original on 10 January 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  28. Air Forces Monthly. Stamford, Lincolnshire, England: Key Publishing Ltd. March 2013. p. 32.
  29. "Eurocopter EC-120 Colibri - avionslegendaires.net". Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  30. "EADS Defence & Security delivers second batch of DRAC UAVs to French Ministry of Defence". Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  31. "L'armée de terre s'équipe avec les mini-drones de Thales". lesechos.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 January 2018.
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