ORION 2026: France launches a major military exercise

France is rolling out ORION 2026, a demanding and highly realistic joint and allied military exercise.

Over three months, France is taking part in the second edition of ORION. This large-scale military exercise is intended to safeguard citizens, defend France’s interests and bring partners together in support of European security, at a time of exceptionally high geopolitical tension.

France has committed considerable resources to the exercise. ORION 2026 will involve more than 12,500 service personnel from 24 countries, 1,200 drones, 140 aircraft and helicopters, and 12 ministries.

ORION 2026: a “particularly demanding” exercise

The Ministry of the Armed Forces describes it as a high-intensity challenge. On Thursday 22 January 2026, Vice-Admiral Xavier Royer de Véricourt, commander of the joint command expert centre at the Armed Forces General Staff, presented the ORION 2026 exercise. This extensive training event is designed to demonstrate “France’s ability to be the first to enter a theatre of operations and to integrate into a NATO arrangement”.

Compared with the previous edition in 2023, this one is even more substantial. It will offer a particularly high degree of realism, recreating every stage of a modern conflict.

ORION 2026 phases and field operations

The first stage of ORION 2026 began on 6 January and focuses on operational planning. The second phase of the military exercise will run from 8 February to 1 March 2026, with operations conducted on the ground. “Forces are deployed as part of a multinational coalition from the Atlantic seaboard” to support the fictional partner state of Arnland, which is facing its equally fictional expansionist neighbour, Mercury.

A coalition led by France will then take place from 7 to 30 April. This will involve an operation “integrated into the NATO chain of command”, intended to demonstrate the ability of the different armed forces to become firmly embedded within the Alliance’s command structure and to contribute to a collective engagement dynamic.

Civil and military coordination

In total, 15 departments and one overseas department and region will take part in this major national exercise over several weeks.

By bringing together 12 ministries, ORION 2026 will also test the responsiveness and coordination of civilian and military stakeholders. Although the exercise is fictional, it draws on a NATO-developed scenario and incorporates “recent developments on the battlefield and new methods of combat”.