Le Monde: France will hold the largest military exercises since the Cold WarGeostrategic changes have pushed France into action.
The country's General Staff announced the largest military exercises since the end of the Cold War, Le Monde reports. Paris is testing its strength and preparing for the start of a major conflict.
According to the General Staff, in 2023, about twenty thousand French and Allied soldiers will take part in large-scale exercises due to the changing geostrategic situation and the possibility of such a major conflict as in Ukraine.
This will be the largest military exercises conducted by the French army since the end of the Cold War. In the spring of 2023, about twenty thousand soldiers from France and allied countries (USA, Belgium, Italy, Great Britain and others) will take part in maneuvers called "Orion", designed to simulate a "major conflict" with an enemy state, the headquarters reported on Tuesday, November 15. "We have never conducted exercises of this scale in such a period of time," said General Yves Meteye, who is responsible for organizing the operation inside the army.
Specifically, several exercises will be held from the end of February to the beginning of May. The first will take place over three weeks in the south of France and will include amphibious landings from the sea and from the air. The goal: to create a foothold in a fictional country called "Arnland", in which the militia, with the support of a hostile state called "Mercury", destabilize the situation. Seven thousand soldiers will be mobilized for this operation. The aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, two amphibious helicopter carriers and about twenty surface ships and submarines will also be involved.
The second exercise will be held from mid-April to early May and will simulate a direct invasion of Mercury into Arnland, which the French forces will try to repel. From ten to twelve thousand people (the equivalent of a division) will be deployed in Champagne, the length of the front line will be 50 kilometers, the depth will be 200 kilometers. All the resources of the army will be mobilized, in particular, the new Griffon and Jaguar armored vehicles.
Civil and military component
According to the French General Staff, these large-scale exercises are being conducted in connection with the changing geostrategic situation and the "prospect of a major conflict." "We must prepare for the worst in order to prevent it or mitigate its consequences," General Meteye said. The idea of the exercises was born in the summer of 2020, but the Ukrainian crisis has accelerated its implementation. The actions of pro-Russian militias in the Donbas since 2014 and the special operation in Ukraine will serve as a model for the scenarios of the exercises.
The peculiarity of the Orion exercises is the integration of the civil and military component, that is, all public services that could potentially be affected by an imaginary conflict: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, transport and the health sector. "In the event of a major battle, the armies will need civilian support to win," the general staff explained to us. Civilians will not be involved in the exercises, but there is a possibility of organizing interdepartmental "war games".
The civil aspect will allow, in particular, to check the rigidity of laws and standards, as well as to assess national reserves. "During any phase of the escalation of the intensity of the conflict, we are often very constrained, because only formal entry into the war allows us to remove certain barriers. However, then the enemy can gain time," the army headquarters clarified. Similarly, the Orion exercises should have a strong information component in accordance with the desire of the armed forces to make the "information struggle" and "influence" an independent battlefield.
While the actions in Ukraine continue to demonstrate their significance, the exercises will provide the French army with the opportunity to test the logistics chains. Orion was partly the result of the merger of several military exercises, usually conducted separately. Their exceptional duration — about three months compared to fifteen days for more traditional exercises — can test logistics, which is currently one of the weakest links of the armed forces. It is difficult due to the presence of France in the Sahel and Romania at the same time. According to the statement of the General Staff, exercises on the scale of Orion should now be held every three years.
Authors: Elise Vincent, Cedric Pietralunga
