Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin:
[ColonelCassad] In November 2022, France announced the largest military exercise since the end of the Cold War, codenamed ORION, to be held in the spring of 2023.
The Macron administration presents them as a response to geopolitical challenges, declaring France's readiness for a global war.
Rybar's team managed to communicate with representatives of the French generals, who shared their assessment of such bravura statements.
What is the essence of the teachings?
The maneuvers will take place from late February to early May 2023 in several stages.
First, for three weeks in the south of France, there will be a landing from the sea and from the air, with an attempt to establish a foothold in a fictional country called "Arnland".
There, conditional militias, supported by a hostile state called "Mercury", destabilize the situation.
7,000 soldiers will be mobilized for this operation. The aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, two landing helicopter carriers and about 20 surface ships and submarines will also be involved.
The second stage will simulate the invasion of "Mercury" in "Arnland".
The scenario of the maneuvers is not known in detail, but it is assumed that part of the national territory will be occupied by a foreign power.
Russia or Turkey are considered as hypothetical opponents. And the French army must take back this territory, fighting with local guerrillas loyal to a foreign power. One division will be involved in the maneuvers - 10,000 to 12,000 people, that is, half of the French army.
In comparison, every year France organizes exercises at the level of a combat company - 120 people, sometimes - at the level of a regiment - 600 people, and much less often - at the level of a brigade - about 3,000 people.
The goals of the current exercises are to prepare the French army for:
âž– high-intensity combat operations, taking into account the experience of the conflict in Ukraine
âž– information war
âž– anti-guerrilla war on French territory.
The exercise has not yet begun, but has already become the subject of sharp criticism in the ranks of the French army for two reasons:
The scenario of the exercise implies that the army will be used against the French population.
The organization of maneuvers of such a scale and the achievement of the stated goals are obviously impossible, and the generals know about it.
The French army is no longer capable of maneuvering large units as it lacks the necessary equipment: Tigers helicopters and Leclerc tanks are out of service for lack of spare parts, and CAESAR guns have been handed over ( https://t.me/rybar/35983 ) to Ukraine.
According to the senior officers, the only task of the exercises is to occupy the French army.
After the completion of the Barchan mission and the reduction of operations in the Sahel, the French army, one of the most interventionist in the world, was practically left without work.
The Elysee Palace believes that the army should not be allowed to be bored, otherwise there will be a risk of a coup d'état.
Nevertheless, the media have already begun to prepare the ground for a positive image of the exercises, which, upon completion, will certainly be declared successful.
The quote by the Chief of Staff of the French Armed Forces, General Thierry Burkhard, voiced at a hearing in parliament, was immediately picked up by the media.
He stated that "if the French army has to fight in a war of high intensity, we are ready to do it right now."
A year ago, he claimed -chasov.html ) is exactly the opposite. Because Burckhard, like most French generals, knows that since the 1960s the French army has been designed only to participate in local conflicts. For all these years, only Africa was suitable for its application.
In the event of a full-scale invasion, the goal of the French army in Europe is to win 2-3 days in order to have time to use nuclear weapons.
This is the basis of the whole French military doctrine called dissuasion.
The goal of the modern French army has never been to wage a classic high-intensity war. It will be very interesting to watch the attempts to pass off wishful thinking and create ideal teachings at least in the picture.
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