French Army Leclerc Main Battle Tanks Combat Team are organized with 3 Leclerc Main Battle Tank and 3 VBL light scout vehicles per platoon. This is the organization for Armoured Cavalry Platoons in the French Army adopted after the 2009 reforms.Those three VBL crews can rotate through training on the tanks, and keep up proficiency by using fewer active tanks.
The Leclerc main battle tank (MBT) built by Giat Industries (now known as Nexter Systems) is operational with the French Army and the armed forces of Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates. The Leclerc was first operational with the French Army in 1992 and with UAE in 1995.
In service since 1992 (after the Persian Gulf War), the Leclerc has mostly seen deployment on low-intensity conflicts, including 15 Leclerc stationed in Kosovo (KFOR) and others in Lebanon (UNIFIL) within UN peace-keeping operations, where their performance was judged satisfactory by French officials. Until 2010, 13 Leclercs were deployed in the south Lebanon for a peacekeeping mission with UNIFIL.
As of August 2015, Leclerc tanks of the United Arab Emirates were deployed in combat operations in Yemen (near Aden) as part of the Saudi-led coalition. It is estimated that 70 Leclerc MBTs were deployed by the UAE in Yemen, 15 of them equipped with the AZUR package. Three tanks were damaged, two by antitank mines and one by an RPG, which damaged the grid without piercing the hull. In a single incident; one Leclerc tank was hit and penetrated in the driver’s hatch by an ATGM, possibly of Konkurs or Konkurs-M type, resulting in the death of the driver and injuries to the legs of the commander. None of these tanks were lost.
The Panhard VBL (light armoured vehicle) is a 4×4 wheeled all-terrain vehicle manufactured by Panhard General Defense, for the French armed forces. The vehicle is primarily deployed in patrol and surveillance missions. The VBL can also be used for anti-tank or air defence missions. It is the frontrunner of the French armour units. The vehicle has been successfully deployed for the past 15 years in various missions in Africa, Lebanon, Kosovo and Afghanistan. More than 2,300 VBL vehicles are operational within 16 armies worldwide, including 1,600 vehicles in service with the French Army.
