Glossary term
ABB (airborne brigade)
TERM SUMMARY
ABB is the NATO abbreviation for airborne brigade, a military brigade trained, organized and equipped to conduct operations by air. The French equivalent is brigade aéroportée.
- Why it matters
- ABB stands for airborne brigade . It describes a military brigade that is trained, organized and equipped to conduct operations by air.
- Category
- Canadian government procurement terminology
- Reference role
- This term page is designed to be linkable, crawlable, and easy to quote or summarize.
ABB stands for airborne brigade. It describes a military brigade that is trained, organized and equipped to conduct operations by air. The abbreviation is listed in NATO's Glossary of NATO Acronyms and Abbreviations, which expands ABB as "airborne brigade".
The same glossary gives the French equivalent as brigade aéroportée. Because Canada works in both official languages and alongside NATO partners, suppliers reading defence documents may meet either form. Both point to the same unit type.
How NATO records the abbreviation ABB
NATO's acronym glossary is a bilingual reference. Each entry pairs an abbreviation with its English expansion and its French equivalent. For ABB, the English expansion is "airborne brigade" and the French is "brigade aéroportée".
The glossary identifies ABB as an acronym or abbreviation. It is a shorthand label for a type of formation, not a program name, a contract vehicle or a standard. A reader who sees ABB in a NATO-related document can treat it as a reference to an airborne brigade.
ABB compared with AAB
The same NATO glossary lists a closely related abbreviation, AAB, which means air assault brigade. The two abbreviations differ by a single letter but name different formations. ABB is an airborne brigade. AAB is an air assault brigade.
- ABB: airborne brigade, in French brigade aéroportée.
- AAB: air assault brigade.
Bid teams reviewing technical documents, statements of requirement or briefing material should check each abbreviation against its context. Reading AAB as ABB, or the reverse, changes the unit being described.
NATOTerm as the reference for military terminology
NATOTerm is NATO's official terminology database. It holds non-classified military terminology and terminology relevant to NATO. The NATO Terminology Office maintains it as part of the NATO Standardization Office.
Suppliers who need to confirm how NATO uses a military term can check NATOTerm and the acronym glossary. Both are published by NATO, so they give a stable reference when a tender or technical annex uses allied terminology. Other NATO information is available through the NATO website search.
What ABB means for a supplier bidding on Canadian contracts
On CanadaBuys, the letters ABB appear in notices linked to company names such as ABB Inc. and ABB Canada. Examples include the contract history entries f7044-190248 and w7701-125010. In those records the letters name a company and have no connection to the NATO abbreviation for airborne brigade.
When you are filtering or monitoring tenders, keep the two meanings apart. A keyword alert on ABB will return supplier names, so it will not isolate military airborne brigade requirements. If ABB appears in a solicitation as a military term, follow the definitions, specifications and instructions in that solicitation.
CanadaBuys is the Government of Canada's procurement portal. Its tender search covers notices from PSPC, other federal departments and agencies, Crown corporations, broader public-sector organizations and NATO. The Department of National Defence directs companies to CanadaBuys for procurement notices, requests for information, supplier registration and bid submission, as set out on its information for companies page.