Feature: French Army tests new C2 approach during Exercise ‘Orion 26'

A 1 (Fr) Corps command post during Exercise ‘‘Orion' 26'. (Etat-major des armees/France)

From October 2025 to the end of April 2026, with live activity starting in early February 2026, the French armed forces held Exercise ‘Orion 26'. The aim of the exercise, according to French Ministry of the Armed Forces briefing material, was “to prepare the French armed forces for the most complex situations in hybrid and contested environments.”

The main land domain element of the exercise tested new technology and concepts for command and control (C2) of the 1st French Army Corps (1 (Fr) Corps) and the 1st French Division (1 (Fr) Div) as well as expanded constructive simulation capabilities during the computer assisted command post exercise (CPX) phase.

The exercise scenario drew on real world geopolitical events, using rearranged European geography and fictitious countries, with forces from a hostile country invading a NATO member, with NATO forces defending and subsequently counter-attacking to drive the hostile forces back.

The exercise had four phases. The initial operational planning phase lasted from October 2025 to January 2026. The main objective was to “strengthen the training of the C2 structure at the strategic and operational levels to plan, under time constraints, a military campaign under national command in coordination with NATO and a host country, as well as operations on the metropolitan national territory and overseas”.