3rd Light Armoured Brigade (France)

The 3rd Light Armoured Brigade (3$e$ Brigade Légère Blindée, 3$e$ BLB) is a mechanised unit of the French Army.

It maintains the traditions of the World War II 3rd Algerian Infantry Division which were later carried on by the 3rd Armored Division.

Until 18 March 2014 the brigade was named 3rd Mechanised Brigade. Circa 2009 it included an armoured regiment and mechanised infantry units :


 * 1er-11e Régiment de Cuirassiers (1e-11e RC) armoured Regiment in Carpiagne with 80 Leclerc
 * 92e Régiment d'Infanterie (92e RI) mechanised Infantry Regiment in Clermont-Ferrand with 65 AMX-10P and 29 VAB
 * 126e Régiment d'Infanterie (126e RI) Infantry Regiment in Brive-la-Gaillarde equipped with VAB and VBL
 * 68e Régiment d'Artillerie (68e RA) self propelled Artillery Regiment in La Valbonne with 32 AMX 30 AuF1 and 16 120 mm Mortars
 * 31e Régiment du Génie (31e RG) Engineer Regiment in Castelsarrasin
 * 3e Compagnie de Commandement et de Transmissions (3e CCT) in Limoges equipped with VAB

Organization today
The brigade consists of around 5000 personnel.

With 5 regiments:
 * 1$e$ Régiment d'Infanterie de Marine (1$e$ RIMa) – marine light armour regiment in Angoulême with AMX 10 RC and ERC 90
 * 92$er$ Régiment d'Infanterie (92$er$ RI) – infantry regiment in Clermont-Ferrand with VBCI
 * 126$e$ Régiment d'Infanterie (126$e$ RI) – infantry regiment in Brive-la-Gaillarde with VAB
 * 68$e$ Régiment d'Artillerie d'Afrique (68$e$ RAA) – artillery regiment in Valbonne with 12x CAESAR – self-propelled howitzers and 16x 120mm RTF1 mortars
 * 31$e$ Régiment du Génie (31$e$ RG) – engineer regiment in Castelsarrasin

And 4 brigade units:
 * 3$e$ Compagnie de Commandement et de Transmissions (3$e$ CCT) – command and signals company in Clermont-Ferrand with VAB
 * Escadron d’éclairage et d’investigation n°3 (EEI3) – brigade reconnaissance squadron in Angoulême
 * Batterie de renseignement de la brigade n°3 (BRB 3), in La Valbonne
 * Centre de formation initiale des militaires du rang (CFIM), in Angoulême