French 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment Receives EBRC Jaguar Armoured Reconnaissance Vehicles

The French Foreign Legion’s 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er Régiment Étranger de Cavalerie, 1er REC) announced it had received the EBRC (Engin Blindé de Reconnaissance et de Combat Jaguar) Jaguar. The EBRC Jaguar is a French armoured reconnaissance vehicle that will replace the French Army’s AMX 10 RC and ERC 90 Sagaie reconnaissance and fire support vehicles as well as the VAB Mephisto. The 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (French: 1er Régiment Étranger de Cavalerie, 1er REC) is the only cavalry regiment of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. Training on the vehicle started last June.

The Foreign Legion (Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army with a specific command and comprising several specialities: infantry, cavalry, engineers, airborne troops. Legionnaires are highly trained soldiers and the Legion is unique in that it is open to foreign recruits willing to serve in the French Armed Forces. The 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment is one of two armoured cavalry regiments of the 6th Light Armoured Brigade. It is currently divided into 7 squadrons. Three squadrons are equipped with the AMX 10 RC, a light wheeled armoured vehicle armed with a 105mm gun.

The AMX-10 RC is a French armoured fighting vehicle manufactured by GIAT for armoured reconnaissance purposes. Equipping French cavalry units since 1981, over 240 are still in service with the French Army as of 2021. In addition, 108 units were sold to Morocco and 12 to Qatar. “RC” stands for “Roues-Canon” (meaning “Wheeled gun”) and the vehicle can also be described as a wheeled tank destroyer or light tank, being referred to as a “char” in French service. The AMX-10RC is usually used for reconnaissance missions in dangerous environments or for fire support.

The Jaguar EBRC is under the program EBMR Scorpion. The consortium building the “Griffon” and “Jaguar” is contractually obliged to keep the price per Jaguar under €1 million, therefore the vehicles are based on a 6×6 commercial all-terrain truck chassis and use standard commercial truck engines. The EBRC Jaguar’s primary weapon, mounted in a two-man turret, is the CTA International CT40 cannon firing 40mm case telescoped ammunition. Two Akeron MP anti-tank guided missiles are fitted to the turret launcher with two reloads stored inside. It also carries a 7.62mm remote controlled machine gun mounted on top of the turret and eight smoke grenades.