Blindés à pied
| Blindés à pied | |
|---|---|
 The badge of the blindés à pied, inherited from the chars de combat and artillerie d'assaut before them. | |
| Founded | 20 May 1973 |
| Country |  France |
| Branch | French Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | Power armor operations, woodland warfare, urban warfare |
| Motto(s) | "En tuer !" ("Kill some!") |
The blindés à pied (English: armor on foot) are French Army infantrymen specialized in the employment of power armor. In addition to specializing in the operation of power armor, they are trained considered to be France's woodland and urban warfare specialists due to their ability to traverse complex terrain under armor.
They are represented in the French Army force structure in the form of battalion-sized régiments de blindés à pied (RBP) concentrated in Northwestern France and Belgium near the border with Germany. The French blindés à pied are in association with the Belgian corps des chasseurs ardennais (Ardennes Chasseur Corps) which itself consists of 2 active and 1 reserve power armored infantry regiment (battalion-sized). While French and Belgian units generally do not mix below the corps-level during Western Union operations in France and Belgium, Belgian chasseurs ardennais frequently reinforce the power armor component of France's rotational brigade forward deployed to Poland.
The corps de blindés à pied are a separate corps within the French Army infantry arm and have carried the traditions of the former chars de combat following the transfer of most tanks to the cavalry arm in the 1970s. Prior to 1973, power armor was issued to both the infantry and cavalry arms, the latter in the form of the cuirassiers à pied. However, with the realignment of blindés, the cuirassiers à pied were disbanded and their material and school were transferred to the infantry arm.