War in Ukraine: more than 2,800 French soldiers will be mobilized, here are their missions


In Poland: Rafales in the sky

This Saturday, February 26, the General Staff confirmed that France had been conducting an air defense mission in the Polish sky since Thursday, February 24. In concrete terms, two daily missions are…

In Poland: Rafales in the sky

This Saturday, February 26, the General Staff confirmed that France had been conducting an air defense mission in the Polish sky since Thursday, February 24. In concrete terms, two daily missions are carried out from bases located in France. More specifically, it is the Rafale, the flagship of the French Air Force, which are engaged over Poland, as well as in-flight tankers. Remember that in our region, an air base is home to Rafales, that of Mont-de-Marsan in the Landes. For the time being, the staff of the armies does not wish to indicate from where the mobilized devices take off.

In Estonia: the Mountain Brigade on the approach

Then, as the Head of State indicated, efforts will also be made in Estonia, where France has ensured a military presence for five years. While the 300 or so French soldiers of the 5th Dragon Regiment are about to leave, after a mandate of twelve months without interruption, they will be replaced in mid-March by units of the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade. These are specialized in “wear and tear” combat in difficult areas and in extreme cold. Moreover, as we have already written, the four Mirage 2000-5 which were to arrive in Estonia at the Ämari air base in April will be deployed within a fortnight, to reinforce the defense of the Baltic countries. They will be accompanied by a hundred soldiers from the Air Force. These French aircraft will be added to the F16 of the Belgian army already on site.

In Romania: 500 soldiers on departure

After Poland and Estonia, France will inaugurate a first deployment in Romania, as announced by Emmanuel Macron. At this point, a first combined arms battle group of just over 500 soldiers is on the way. These elements are in the process of “gathering in the south of France”, specifies the staff of the armies. They will join Romania by plane. To these units could be added, in the coming weeks, contributions from other European countries. The objective being to arrive at a battalion of 800 to 1,000 men. The exact location of these troops in Romania is not yet known, but they could settle in the center of the country.

In Norway: an exercise with 2,000 soldiers

Since January 1, France has taken command of NATO’s rapid reaction force. In this context, 8,000 French soldiers are on alert. The personnel who are preparing to join Romania are part of this system. In addition, as part of NATO’s rapid reaction force, France will take part in a major force projection exercise in Norway at the end of March. Which will be followed by training with several European countries. France plans to send 2,000 soldiers to Norway with air, land and sea resources. In light of the invasion of Ukraine, NATO decided to maintain this exercise in order to have a significant military presence in northern Europe, just in case.

The aircraft carrier “Charles-de-Gaulle”



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