1er REC, 13e DBLE: Exercise Orion 2023 | French Foreign Legion Information

Since late February 2023, legionnaires from the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) and the 13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade (13e DBLE) have been participating in the second phase of joint Exercise Orion 2023, in Southern France. According to the French Armed Forces, it is the largest military exercise conducted in the past three decades.

The months-long exercise is divided into four phases and involves around 12,000 of troops, thousands of land vehicles, 30 ships, 40 helicopters, 130 aircraft and an aircraft carrier. It engages France’s main NATO allies, including the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy, or Greece. The exercise’s objective is to train the French armed forces in “a joint and combined framework based on a realistic and challenging scenario that takes into account multiple domains of conventional (land, air, sea, space) and hybrid warfare (influence, cyber, electronic).” Orion 2023 integrates about twenty military exercises that the French forces usually conduct separately each year. The fourth phase is the largest one and begins in mid-April and will last until early May.

The exercise is carried out amid the current international situation, with a mission to restore security over a state invaded by its neighbour.

13e DBLE - 2023 - Exercise Orion - France

1er REC and 13e DBLE men land in the Herault region, late February 2023:

Information about ORION 2023 (English subtitles):

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