France's military trains for high-intensity conflict with largest exercises in years скачать в хорошем качестве

France's military trains for high-intensity conflict with largest exercises in years

(20 Feb 2026) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Saint-Nazaire, France - 19 February 2026 1. Wide of French Rafale fighter jets and a surveillance aircraft flying over the French navy ship Tonnerre docked at Saint-Nazaire, western France, during the Orion 26 military exercise 2. Pan down of the Tonnerre docked at Saint Nazaire to soldier 3. Wide of soldiers deploying from inflatable boats onto Tonnerre 4. Various of soldiers conducting a tactical exercise aboard the Tonnerre 5. Wide of Capt. Arnaud Bolelli, commander of the Tonnerre, watching the drill 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Capt. Arnaud Bolelli, commander of the Tonnerre: "During the month of February, the armed forces are conducting a major exercise called Orion. This exercise concerns navy, army, air force, and all the armed forces, and so we conduct an exercise that is like reality. We try to play all the parts of this exercise." 7. Wide of Rafale fighter jets taxiing on a runway 8. Wide of a Rafale fighter jet taking off from the airbase 9. Wide of troops rappelling down a rope from a French military helicopter at the airbase 10. SOUNDBITE (English) Capt. Arnaud Bolelli, commander of the Tonnerre: "This exercise is not a game at all because we are conducting a real action just like we would do in case of an aggression. And you have many troops, many ships at sea, and we are conducting this exercise as a real operation and we have troops against us to make sure this is not only playing a scenario but really conducting a military campaign." 11. Mid of crew member monitoring medical equipment and treating another crew member pretending to be injured aboard the Tonnerre 12. Close of a crew member pretending to be injured receiving medical attention with an oxygen mask 13. UPSOUND (French) Capt. Arnaud Bolelli, commander of the Tonnerre explaining what they are doing: "We stabilize them on the ground and bring them aboard and triage to save the soldiers. After that, either we manage to get them back on their feet and send them to the field, or we'll evacuate them to the rear." 14. Various of military medical personnel practising surgery aboard the Tonnerre 15. SOUNDBITE (French) Capt. Arnaud Bolelli, commander of the Tonnerre: "I think with this whole exercise we make sure that our troops are ready and we train, conducting the operations together with French forces and with allied countries. So the message is our armies are trained and are ready to operate if it's necessary." 16. Wide of soldiers on the ground with a helicopter in the background 17. Mid of soldiers taking cover and aiming rifles 18. Mid of soldier aiming rifle 19. Wide of military vehicles and aircraft participating in exercise 20. Wide of a Rafale fighter jet taxiing on the runway at Saint-Nazaire STORYLINE: France's military is preparing for the eventuality of high-intensity conflict in Europe by holding its largest training exercises in years. Dubbed Orion 26, the army, navy, air force, space force and cyber-warfare exercises started in earnest this month and will stretch into April. Some 10,000 troops are being deployed in this month's initial phase, including the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, scaling up to more than 12,000 in a follow-up phase in April. More than 20 other countries are also taking part to different degrees. France hopes the exercises will show that it has the capacity and experience to lead a multinational force into battle in Europe if ever needed. Its commander, Capt. Arnaud Bolelli, said the drills are being conducted like a real military campaign and are "not a game at all." Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...