Name: How France is preparing for modern warfare
Uploaded: 2025-11-20T21:05:49.314Z
Duration: 2 min 12 s
Description: Pilots, technicians and support teams rehearse the types of operations France may be called upon to conduct in a rapidly deteriorating international security landscape.

Pilots, technicians and support teams rehearse the types of operations France may be called upon to conduct in a rapidly deteriorating international security landscape.

Paris

France is conducting the Taranis military exercise at Orléans-Bricy airbase, involving 250 personnel and 20 aircraft from France and Greece. The exercise is designed to enhance tactical expertise and readiness for high-intensity conflicts, with a focus on anti-drone operations and rapid deployment capabilities.

Key assets such as the Fennec helicopter and A400M transport planes are being utilized, with crews training on improvised runways including a newly inaugurated gravel strip. The exercise, which runs for three weeks, concludes on November 27 and commemorates the 80th anniversary of France's military air transport command.

How France is preparing for modern warfare

Strapped into a Fennec military helicopter, we lift off over the Orléans-Bricy airbase in central France. Euronews was granted exclusive access on board this light and highly manoeuvrable aircraft, one of the key tools France now relies on for anti-drone operations across Europe. But the Fennec is just one piece of Taranis, France's major high-intensity military exercise. Over the course of three weeks, the Air Force trains for scenarios shaped by today's increasingly tense geopolitical climate. What drives us for Taranis 2025 is the motto of the Air Assault and Projection Brigade, which is to fight and save. To fight, I'm talking more about the helicopter part, of course. It's going to be to deploy and retrieve commandos, it's going to be to act in the air to ensure the sovereignty of the state in its airspace. To save, it's also going to be to retrieve people on the ground, to destroy, etc. That's what we're going to demonstrate today. Down below, the roar of the A400M transport plane punches through the clouds. The Orléans-Bricy airbase hosts almost the entire French A400M fleet, 24 aircraft capable of evacuations, humanitarian drops and heavy transport. To keep these crews mission-ready, Taranis pushes them onto improvised runways, including this brand new gravel strip inaugurated for the exercise. In total, 250 personnel and 20 aircraft from France and Greece are mobilized, all with one single objective, to strengthen tactical expertise ahead of potential high-intensity conflicts. The Taranis exercise will wrap up on November 27, marking the 80 years of France's military air transport command.

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