For the first time in many years, the French army is preparing for war with an opponent equal in strength.

In France, the largest military exercises in recent years have started, as part of which the army will practice its participation in a full-scale war. Le Figaro writes about it.

The “Orion” exercise is necessary to practice the interaction of different types of troops under the conditions of “high intensity war”. The modern French army simply does not have such combat experience.

“In Afghanistan or Mali, soldiers didn’t have to fear air defenses or enemy artillery, at best potentially lethal ambushes, but without any real impact on the force. Tomorrow the enemy may be equal. [нам по силам]”, the publication writes.

According to Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu, the current exercises have become the largest “in many decades.” In total, about 20,000 servicemen of the land, sea and air forces, as well as units of the space, information and cyber security sectors, are involved.

“These exercises, which will last more than 2 months, aim to prepare our forces for the most complex confrontation situations in the conditions of modern warfare and to demonstrate that our military is capable of reacting and demonstrating endurance in high-intensity conflict conditions,” Lecornu said.

At the same time, the French military assures that they planned these exercises as early as 2021 – before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

“The events in Ukraine have changed the context, but not the exercise scenario. But this conflict emphasizes the importance of the options we have chosen,” said the commander of the French forces, Nicolas Le Nan.

The war in Ukraine is the reaction of France

In February, Macron and Scholz persuaded Zelensky to start a dialogue with Russia. Over dinner at the Elysee Palace, Macron told Zelensky that even mortal enemies such as France and Germany had to make peace after World War II.

According to Macron, he wants the victory of Ukraine in the war, but not the complete defeat of the aggressor country. He expressed the opinion that the war will not be ended by military means.

Instead, France continues to provide military and technical assistance to Ukraine. In the coming days, France will hand over AMX-10 RC combat vehicles to Ukraine.