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| Belgian Army | |
|---|---|
| Landmacht (Dutch) Force Terrestre (French) | |
 | |
| Founded | 1830; 196 years ago (1830) |
| Country |  Belgium |
| Type | Army |
| Role | Land warfare |
| Size | 9,427 active personnel[1] 2,120 reservists |
| Part of |  Belgian Armed Forces |
| Commanders | |
| Commander | Major-General Jean-Pol Baugnée |
| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol |  |
TheBelgian Army (Dutch:Landmacht,French:Force Terrestre) is theland branch of theBelgian Armed Forces. TheKing of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Belgian Army is Major-General Jean-Pol Baugnée.
Dating back to Belgium's establishment in 1830, the Belgian Army is the oldestservice branch of the Belgian Armed Forces, and is also the largest of the four branches, with approximately 10,000 activemilitary personnel and over 2,000reservists as of 2022.
The Belgian Army was established in 1830 after Belgium gained independence from theNetherlands after theBelgian Revolution. It was initially expected that as neutral buffer state with borders guaranteed byFrance,Britain, andPrussia, Belgium could avoid the need for an expensive permanent military, relying instead on the part-timemilitia of the existingGarde Civique (Civil Guard); however, the need of a regular full-time army was soon acknowledged, and the Belgian Army was promptly established.
According to the Law of August 1837, the Belgian Army was to consist of:[citation needed]
Note: A battalion (864 men) consisted of four companies of 216 men
Note: A squadron had approximately 130 horses
Note: A battery had 6 guns
A major reorganisation of the army had been authorised by the government in 1912, providing for a total army of 350,000 men by 1926: 150,000 in the field forces, 130,000 in fortress garrisons and 70,000 reserves and auxiliaries. At the outbreak of war this reorganisation was nowhere near complete and only 117,000 men could be mobilised for the field forces, with the other branches equally deficient.
The Commander-in-Chief wasKing Albert I, with Lieutenant-General ChevalierAntonin de Selliers de Moranville as the Chief of the General Staff from 25 May 1914 until 6 September 1914 when a Royal Decree abolished the function of Chief of Staff of the army. In this way the King secured his control of the command.[2]
In addition, there were garrisons at Antwerp, Liège and Namur, each placed under the command of the local divisional commander.[3]
Each division contained three mixed brigades (of two infantry regiments and one artillery regiment), one cavalry regiment, and one artillery regiment, as well as various support units. Each infantry regiment contained three battalions, with one regiment in each brigade having a machine-gun company of six guns. An artillery regiment had three batteries of four guns.
The nominal strength of a division varied from 25,500 to 32,000 all ranks, with a total strength of eighteen infantry battalions, a cavalry regiment, eighteen machine-guns, and forty-eight guns. Two divisions (the 2nd and 6th) each had an additional artillery regiment, for a total of sixty guns.
The Cavalry Division had two brigades of two regiments each, threehorse artillery batteries, and a cyclist battalion, along with support units; it had a total strength of 4,500 all ranks with 12 guns, and was, in effect, little more than a reinforced brigade.
In 1940, theKing of Belgium was the commander in chief of the Belgian Army which had a mobilised strength of 610,000 troops. The army was composed of seven infantry corps and one cavalry corps. The corps were as follows:
Each army corps had its own headquarters staff, medical and logistic support units, engineers and signal troops and corps-level artillery support.
Each infantry division had a divisional staff, reconnaissance unit, medical and logistic support units, engineers and signal troops. Active and first tier reserve divisions had two additional antitank companies. Infantry regiments numbered approximately 3,000 troops. Each active and first tier reserve regiment had 108 light machine guns, 52 heavy machine guns, 8 mortars and 12 antitank guns.
Within theFree Belgian Forces that were formed in Great Britain during the occupation of Belgium between 1940 and 1945, there was a land force formation, the1st Belgian Infantry Brigade. An additional three divisions were raised and trained inNorthern Ireland, but the war ended before they could see action. However, they joined the initial Belgian occupation force in Germany, I Belgian Corps, whose headquarters moved to Luedenscheid in October 1946.[4] Of the 75,000 troops that found themselves in Germany on 8 May 1945, the vast majority had been recruited after the liberation of Belgium.[5]
There was also abicycle infantry formation known as theFrontier Cyclists.
During theKorean War, Belgium providedcombat troops forSouth Korea and became part of theUnited Nations Forces.
During theCold War, Belgium provided theI Belgian Corps (HQ Haelen Kaserne, Junkersdorf,Lindenthal (Cologne)), consisting of the 1st Infantry Division inLiège and 16th Mechanised Division inNeheim-Hüsten, toNATO'sNorthern Army Group for the defence of West Germany.[6] There were also two reserve brigades (10th Mechanised Brigade,Limbourg, and the 12th Motorised Brigade,Liège), slightly bigger than the four active brigades, which were intended as reinforcements for the two divisions. Interior forces comprised the Para-Commando Regiment inHeverlee, three national defence light infantry battalions (5th Chasseurs Ardennais, 3rd Carabiniers-cyclists, and 4th Carabiniers-cyclists), four engineer battalions, and nine provincial regiments with two to five light infantry battalions each. (Isby and Kamps, 1985, 64, 72)
After the end of the Cold War, forces were reduced. Initial planning in 1991 called for a Belgian-led corps with 2 or 4 Belgian brigades, a German brigade, and possibly a U.S. brigade.[7] However, by 1992 this plan was looking unlikely, and in 1993 a single Belgian division with two brigades became part of theEurocorps.[8][9]
The Belgian Army is organised as 1st Brigade, 7th Brigade and 1st Special Operations Regiment. In total, the Belgian Army consists of almost 10,000 active military personnel. To enhance organizational efficiency, the Belgian Army reformed on 3 February 2026 a dedicated brigade for each of Belgium's major linguistic communities. The structure and composition of these brigades is as follows:[10]
Other units of the Belgian Army:
Some of the regiments in the Belgian Army, such as the12/13th Battalion of the Line, have names consisting of multiple elements. This is the result of a series of amalgamations that took place over the years. The 12/13th Battalion was created in 1993 as a result of the merger of the12th Regiment of the Line Prince Leopold and the13th Regiment of the Line.
The rank insignia ofcommissioned officers.
| NATO code | OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Belgian Land Component[21] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||||||||||||
| Generaal | Luitenant-generaal | Generaal-majoor | Brigadegeneraal | Kolonel | Luitenant-kolonel | Majoor | Kapitein-commandant | Kapitein | Luitenant | Onderluitenant | ||||||||||||||
| Général | Lieutenant général | Général-major | Général de Brigade | Colonel | Lieutenant-colonel | Major | Capitaine-commandant | Capitaine | Lieutenant | Sous-lieutenant | ||||||||||||||
| General | Generalleutnant | Generalmajor | Brigadegeneral | Oberst | Oberstleutnant | Major | Stabshauptmann | Hauptmann | Leutnant | Unterleutnant | ||||||||||||||
The rank insignia ofnon-commissioned officers andenlisted personnel.
| NATO code | OR-9 | OR-8 | OR-7 | OR-6 | OR-5 | OR-4 | OR-3 | OR-2 | OR-1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgian Land Component[21] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adjudant-majoor | Adjudant-chef | Adjudant | 1ste sergeant-majoor | 1ste sergeant-chef | 1ste sergeant | Sergeant | 1ste korporaal-chef | Korporaal-chef | Korporaal | 1ste soldaat | Soldaat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adjudant-major | Adjudant-chef | Adjudant | 1e sergent-major | 1e sergent-chef | 1e sergent | Sergent | 1e caporal-chef | Caporal-chef | Caporal | 1 soldat | Soldat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Majoradjutant | Chefadjudant | Adjudant | 1er Sergeant major | 1er Sergeant chef | 1er Sergeant | Sergeant | 1er Korporal chef | Korporal chef | Korporal | 1er soldat | Soldat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Belgian Army went through a major re-equipment programme for most of its vehicles. The aim was to phase out all tracked vehicles in favour of wheeled vehicles. As of 2010, the tank units were to be disbanded or amalgamated with the Armored Infantry (two infantry companies and one tank squadron per battalion). Forty Leopard 1 tanks were to be sold. As of 2013, only some M113 variants (Radar, recovery, command posts, and driving school vehicles) and Leopard variants (Recovery, AVLB, Pionier, driving tanks) will remain in service.
The Leopard 1A5 tank was retired on 10 September 2014. 56 of the tanks were sold, about 24 will stay as historic monuments or serve as a museum pieces; the rest will be phased out or used for target practice.[22][23] In 2008 a sale of 43 Leopard 1A5(BE) to Lebanon was concluded, but as of 2018 was not finalized due to "the absence of licensing for export from Germany."[24][25][26]
In the strategical defense vision report of the Belgian government, it was stated that by 2030 the Belgian Army will invest in new modern equipment such as weapons, vehicles, communication assets, body armor and more.[27]
| NATO land forces |  | |
|---|---|---|
