Are the French armies ready for a major conflict of the same intensity as the war in Ukraine or even in Nagorno-Karabakh which involves major military powers like Turkey? This is what the armies have been verifying for two weeks with the Orion exercise. A military operation that involves 30 warships, 30 fighter planes and several thousand soldiers.
Within two hours, nearly 600 paratroopers were dropped into a field near Castres. In the scenario, they are not in France but in a foreign country invaded by a great power, and in which they must intervene to repel this invader.
The first to shoot are French soldiers who play hooded enemies, disguised as militiamen. The balls are blank. Wounded are simulated, for maximum warrior realism: “ We consider that from the moment we are 50% in the regrouping zone, for 150 para out of the 300 dropped, we are able to continue the mission. It’s something we all need to know, so the mission comes first. And afterwards, we obviously take care of our wounded comrades. »
7,000 soldiers on exercise
At the same time, the troops of the national navy disembark at the port of Frontignan. In all, 7,000 soldiers are sent to attack on two imaginary fronts created for the Orion exercise led by General Frédéric Chiffot: “ The particularity is that it is a combined training, not only amphibious but also with airborne operations. These are special forces, undercover operations. So that means intelligence, cyber actions so as not to be discovered. We create commotion in other areas to make them believe that we are going to land in another region, and therefore to create this surprise here. The novelty of this training is that we put everyone together. We combined about 40 exercises at the same time. »
In the population, this sudden parade of tanks and battalions of soldiers arouses as much curiosity as concern: “ We saw soldiers on the road. It’s a little scary with everything we hear, between Ukraine, Russia. Suddenly, we see them, we ask ourselves a lot of questions. It’s good to see them do it, to see how they’re going to protect us. »
Reassure the population
Despite appearances, the objective is not to prepare public opinion for war, assures us the Secretary of State to the Minister for the Armed Forces, Patricia Mirallès who tries to reassure: ” I won’t say prepare, but rather show, reassure the population by saying that we have capabilities. We are the first army in Europe. Already since 2021, even before the war [en Ukraine, NDLR] be declared, the armies had planned this Orion exercise. If however there should be a war in ten, fifteen years, we must be ready and therefore, we are preparing. »
Other parachute drops and combat simulations are planned until March 11 in the south of France. Others will take place in April, this time in eastern France.
► To read also: Orion 23: the French armies simulate an invasion of a foreign country