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Further Reading

Belgium - The Army / Composante Terre / Landcomponent

With a strength of 12,560 men and women, the component of land, modified since October 2009, has always managed to remain powerful despite an impressive number of restructuring. The land component is composed of two brigades; a medium brigade (median) and a light brigade. The Light Brigade is a developmental capacity composed of two battalions soldiers of a battalion of light infantry and Special Forces. In addition to the two brigades, it has two battalions of engineering, a battalion of artillery and a unit in charge of recognition and the collection of information. The land component can also rely on its logistical and communication units to support the defence on each mission.

The land component had invested heavily, and continues to invest in the renewal of its fleet of vehicles. The Medium Brigade uses the armoured wheeled IYV (Armoured Infantry Vehicle) while the light Brigade uses VPDS (Multi Purpose Protected Vehicle )). Units of recognition rely on the Pandur and the vehicle all terrain LMV (Light Multi Role Vehicle) is an armoured jeep used by the different units. The capacity of the units has been significantly improved. Although some units have merged or were removed, units that remain are more robust and better driven. As there are fewer units than before, they have for more means of transport and training equipment. External missions remain the essential task. Although many restructurings were performed, the level of ambition of the land component remains unchanged.

In addition to normal tasks, the Army should be immediately able to detach 6,000 personnel, if necessary, to provide for:

• Building a unit at the level of independent brigade group deployable within one year and its rotation,
• Forming a unit at the level of independent brigade group intended for missions abroad of short-term nature,
• Building a unit at the level of battalion with reinforcement troops (battle group) for unlimited time engagement,
• Available combat and/or support units, if necessary, in favour of multinational forces at the level of division or army corps.

The land component should be able to provide units necessary for supporting a brigade intended for deployment in an operation abroad even if a unit of the above mentioned has already been deployed. The mentioned units should comprise airmobile or mechanised land sub-components. By the end of the Cold War the army consisted of two major components: the 1st Belgian Corps, which is assigned to NATO, and the Forces of the Interior, which are responsible for the defense of Belgian territory. The 1st Belgian Corps is deployed operationally, having most of its units in the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). The deployment of Belgian Army units in West Germany dates hack to 1945, when the Belgian brigades of the newly re-formed army took part in military operations with the British army at the end of World War II. They then remained as occupation forces and part of NATO.

The primary mission of the Belgian forces in West Germany was to defend their assigned sector against attack and, with their allies, to fight in any conflict, conventional or nuclear. The 1st Belgian Corps was composed of two active divisions, each having three mechanized brigades in peacetime and, if necessary, four in war. The corps has a number of supporting units. The brigades include two armored infantry battalions, one antitank battalion, one or two tank battalions, one artillery battalion, an engineer company, and logistical support units.

The 1st Belgian Corps had a total strength of 34,000 in peacetime, which can be doubled in case of war. Most of the units were stationed in West Germany, and by the 1980s many of the associated family dependents have lived outside Belgium for more than 25 years. At one time, more than 60,000 Belgians living in West Germany had to be supported by the military. In 1973 two of the active brigades were reassigned to Belgian territory, one to the northern Leopoldsburg area, the other to the southern Bastogne/ Marche-en-Famenne area. This solved some of the immediate social problems but has also increased the distance from assigned operational areas during training or war.

The units of the 1st Belgian Corps participated in a number of annual exercises and maneuvers, and their operational readiness has been continually maintained. Most of the equipment has been renovated or upgraded between 1975 and 1985. Although the Leopard tank was standard in the armored battalions, various smaller armored vehicles were used by the reconnaissance units. The antitank battalion was equipped with various light antitank weapons (LAWs) and antitank missiles, such as the Swingfire, Milan, and the Panzerjager. Honest John tactical missiles were being replaced by Lance missiles in 1984. The German-manufactured Gepard antiaircraft gun system has also been added to the antiaircraft batteries. The Epervier, an unmanned drone of Belgian construction, has been used for battlefield surveillance. The field artillery consisted primarily of United States-built, self-propelled guns. In 1984 Belgium agreed to purchase a number of Canadian-built four-wheel-drive jeeps to replace existing vehicles used by the armored infantry battalions.

The Forces of the Interior have a triple role. In peacetime they had the responsibility of helping the 1st Belgian Corps by running training schools and preparing for the mobilization of reserve forces. In the event of war, they were to defend Belgian territory and protect the allied as well as Belgian lines of communication. They also had a logistic responsibility to the air force and the navy and supply medical assistance to the gendarmerie. The average strength of the Forces of the Interior in 1984 was 35,000, but if the mobilized reserve is included, they would total approximately 195,000.

The Forces of the Interior were made up of army units and in time of war would be supplemented by local gendarmerie and reserve forces. The Regiment of Para-Commandos, an elite, highly trained unit, supplemented the Forces of the Interior with three battalions—two airborne infantry units and one commando unit. (The commando troops are the equivalent of the United States Rangers.) In addition to its mission in the overall defense of Belgium, this regiment furnished an artillery and armored reconnaissance battalion to the NATO mobile forces. The para-commandos are the most battle-experienced of the Belgian armed forces, having fought in Koiwezi province in Zaire (formerly the Belgian Congo) as recently as 1978.

Of the three services, the Belgian Army was by far the largest recipient of equipment from the US after World War II, taking into inventory the entire spectrum of army material including tanks, personnel carriers, machine guns, rocket launchers, and a variety of armored vehicles. Major FMS purchases by the Belgian Army in the 1970s and 1980s included 96 M108 105MM and 41 M109 155M Howitzers, 290 HAWK tactical missiles, support for the Belgian Army NIKE Hercules squadrons, and over 100 LANCE missiles. In the same period, the Belgian Army was much more involved in commercial purchases from the US, with the two largest purchases having been a $110 million contract for 127 M109A2 SP155MM Howitzers from BMY and a $106 million contract for the procurement of 114,000 roundsof M485A2 155MM ammunition from General Defense Corp.

During the Cold War Belgium maintained an army of approximately 66,000, half of whom were deployed to the FRG as part of the Belgian I Corps, which was comprised of two active divisions, each having three mechanized brigades and supporting units. The remainder of the army comprised the Forces Interior responsible for the defense of the home territory and LOC, and was made up of regular army units which would be augmented in wartime by the local gendarmerie and reserve forces. In addition, the Forces Interior were supplemented by a regiment of para-commandos (equivalent to US Army Rangers) with two airborne infantry and one commando battalion.

The Modernisation Plan 2000–2015 Of The Belgian Armed Forces is based on a strategic reflection called VISION 2015, that was initiated in 1997. The operational characteristics of the new 2015 Force structure will be more readily available, flexible, modular, sustainable, deployable, effective and fully equipped and manned units. The land component – the term “component” is used in order to stress the jointness in the future – will have 2 core capacities :

1. a mechanised capacity with wheeled armored vehicles, consisting of 2 fully equipped and manned brigades;
2. an air transportable infantry capacity with transport helicopters, consisting of the transformed airborne para-commando brigade.

As a result, the gradual adaptation of the equipment and weapon systems of the land component will encompass the modernisation of the transport means, the improvement of the anti-tank capacity, the introduction of new jeeps with a better protection, the acquisition of deployable temporary or semi-permanent infrastructure for PSO-contingent, the acquisition of medium transport helicopters, the replacement of the different types of tracked vehicles by wheeled vehicles, the digitalisation of the land operations.

Type	Origin	1990	1995	2000	2005	2010	2012	2015	2020	2025
Tanks (Leopard 1 A1/A5)		...	...	...	155	...	...	...	...	...
Reconnaissance armoured vehicles “Scimitar”		...	...	...	141	...	...	...	...	...
Infantry Armoured vehicle (various types)		...	...	...	770	...	...	...	...	...
Artillery systems 105 mm		...	...	...	38	...	...	...	...	...
Artillery systems 155 mm		...	...	...	112	...	...	...	...	...
Mortars 81 mm		...	...	...	100	...	...	...	...	...
Mortars 107 mm		...	...	...	90	...	...	...	...	...
Antitank missiles “Milan”		...	...	...	420	...	...	...	...	...
AD system “Mistral”		...	...	...	118	...	...	...	...	...
Aircraft BN-2A “Islander”		...	...	...	12	...	...	...	...	...
Attack helicopters A-109 BA		...	...	...	28	...	...	...	...	...