France Has Launched its Largest Military Exercise (Exercise Orion 2023)
The largest military exercise conducted in France in decades has begun. 7,000 soldiers are involved in Exercise Orion’s second phase, which focuses on defensive operations on land, in the air, at sea, and in cyberspace. These soldiers include joint assets from the US and UK and the host nation France, as well as naval assets from NATO Allies Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain. 700 French soldiers from the 8th Marines Infantry Parachute Regiment and an associated company from the 17 Engineer Parachute Regiment were dropped over an airstrip in Castres as part of the practice by three French Air and Space Force A400M transport planes. Another three aircraft dropped 48 hours’ worth of equipment and supplies for the force to secure and hold the area. During another phase, 700 amphibious troops came ashore from the French Navy’s amphibious ships Tonnerre and Mistral, along with vehicles and equipment. They disembarked in the coastal town of Sète before heading further north to practise manoeuvres and operations.