An Indian Air Force (IAF) contingent departed for France, to participate in Exercise Orion at Mont-de-Marsan, an Air Force base of the French Air and Space Force (FASF) on 10 April 2023. The exercise was conducted from 17 April to 5 May 2023, with the IAF contingent comprising four Rafales, two C-17s, two ll-78 aircraft and 165 air warriors. This was the first overseas exercise for the IAF's Rafale aircraft. Besides the IAF and the FASF, Air Forces from Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Spain and United States of America also flew in for this multilateral exercise. France launched its biggest military exercise in decades, together with its NATO Allies. The second phase of Exercise Orion 23 involves 7,000 personnel and assets from France and several Allied countries, including Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, and focuses on defensive operations on land, in the air, at sea and in cyberspace. The drills are conducted over several months, starting in late February and ending in May 2023. The peak of the exercise is scheduled from late April to early May, in north-eastern France. During this phase, around 12,000 troops will be deployed on the ground and in the skies to repel a simulated high-intensity attack. As highlighted by the French Chief of Defence Staff (CEMA) in his strategic vision, the changing international context requires France to envisage the nature of future operations in a three-phase continuum of competition-contest-conflict. Exercise Orion 2023 is the first exercise in what French Joint Forces Command hopes will be a triennial cycle of exercises aimed at reinforcing joint forces operational readiness.
The IAF Team made a quick halt in Egypt on their way to France for Orion 23: “Shukran Jazeelan to our Egyptian partners for the hospitable stay”.
Orion is based on a scenario developed by NATO to apprehend the different phases of a modern conflict and will be on a scale unprecedented in recent decades. It aims to train the French armed forces within a multinational joint forces framework, with the goal of refocusing the armed forces and their various branches and administrative levels on a joint, multi-domain (MDO) exercise in a contested environment. The exercise also involves an inter-ministerial perspective extending beyond purely military concerns. So, one of the major training themes of Orion 23 will be the coordination of assets and effects over the full spectrum of operations, in order to tackle these hybrid strategies. For example, as a joint forces inter-ministerial exercise, Orion will bring together the energies of civilian and military personnel working on the cohesion of the French nation and on France’s resilience in the face of the challenges presented by an international context of growing instability. “The integration of our Allies in the exercise reinforces the credibility of the defence alliance, while demonstrating France’s capability to engage as a leading coalition partner. Several international partners (United States, United Kingdom, Spain etc.) have confirmed that they are taking part in the various phases of the exercise. This multinational dimension will enable every branch of French command to integrate allied units and optimise interoperability with them. This exercise will directly help to demonstrate France’s role as a major force for balance, able to commit to the defence of its own interests and to live up to its ambitions by engaging its effective participation in any actions that the Alliance may take in response a crisis. In this respect, the exercise will enable France to position itself as one of the few European nations able to summon this level of expertise in the operational planning and conduct of large-scale military exercises”, stated FASF officials. Exercise Orion will also enable the various branches of the French armed forces to maintain their response capability and their capacity to meet the demands of their operational contract. It will integrate around twenty training exercises (AsterX, DEFNET, POLARIS etc.) that are normally conducted separately by the armed forces. Consequently, the training will gain in density, with greater realism and higher intensity, while reducing the logistic workload and achieving economies of scale.
Text: Indian and French MoD Photos: IAF/FASF