Army - Meta-Defense.fr

France to deliver CAESAR mobile artillery systems to Ukraine

In an interview focusing on international political issues given to the regional daily Ouest-France, President Macron indicated that beyond the diplomatic efforts carried out in coordination with Ukraine to maintain contact with the Kremlin, France had also stepped up its effort to deliver armaments to Ukraine, citing MILAN anti-tank missiles as well as, and this is a first, CAESAR 155mm mobile artillery systems, a gun renowned for its high precision, range and its great mobility

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How the war in Ukraine reshuffles the cards about Conscription and the Reserve?

April 21thApril 22th

Like many Western armies, France put an end to conscription in 1997, to turn to an entirely professional army, on a model inspired by Great Britain. This decision was based both on the reduction in the threat following the fall of the Soviet bloc, and on a restructuring imposed by the new missions entrusted to the French armies, largely based on external operations in which conscripts could not participate. As for the protection of the Nation, it was in fact entrusted to the sole deterrence, deemed necessary and sufficient to ensure the protection of the national space but also of…

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MGCS: Italy, Poland, Norway and Great Britain could join the program from 2023

April 11thApril 11th

Resulting from a preliminary study launched jointly by France and Germany in 2012, the Main Ground Combat System program, or MGCS, was officially launched in 2017 by Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel to replace in 2035 the French Leclerc tanks and the German Leopard 2s, alongside 3 other emblematic programs of Franco-German cooperation in the defense industry, the Future Air Combat System or SCAF to replace the Rafale and Typhoon in 2040, the Common Indect Fire System or CIFS to replacing self-propelled guns and multiple rocket launchers in 2035, and the Maritime Airborne Warfare System or MAWS to…

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The dazzling deployment of Russian force makes European security paradigms obsolete

February 21 2022February 21 2022

Last April, the Russian armed forces had deployed in two months time more than 100.000 men along the Ukrainian borders, creating significant regional tensions. But in the absence of certain observations, such as the massive assembly of Inter-arms Tactical Battalion, the combat format of Russian units comparable to the French Inter-arms Tactical Group, sufficient stocks of ammunition and fuel, pre-positioning support forces such as field hospitals, this show of force did not allow the Kremlin to convince Westerners of the reality of the threat. However, this deployment of forces did not lead to significant changes in defensive postures...

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Berlin would be interested in the American AH-64E Apache helicopter .. since 2019!

November 22, 2021November 22, 2021

For the past few months, the Tiger 3 program, bringing together France, Spain and Germany in the framework of permanent structured cooperation, or PESCO, since November 2019, has been meeting strong headwinds, with Berlin proving more and more difficult to convince to invest in the modernization of the European combat helicopter. Indeed, according to the Bundeswehr, the device would be particularly difficult to maintain in operational condition, and would offer insufficient availability in view of the needs. Without ever questioning their own maintenance procedures and the role of the size of the fleet in the subject, Germany seemed, since then, to be more and more openly interested in the helicopter...

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What are the strengths and weaknesses of the French Army?

November 22, 2021January 26 2022

During his hearing before the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense of the Senate, the Chief of Staff of the Army (CEMAT), General Schill, declared that it would be a priority to give back to his army increased capacities in terms of artillery and close anti-aircraft defense on the occasion of the next Military Programming Law. It is true, and we have repeatedly addressed the subject in our lines, that these two areas are today part of the weak points of the Army, in particular to engage in a high intensity conflict. But through the statements of the French General, and...

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Are the French Armies ready for "High Intensity"?

November 4, 2021November 10, 2021

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the need to have a military force designed for major engagements against an adversary with the same advanced military capabilities gradually withered, the very notion of conflict between great nations military having largely diminished. In France, as in many European countries, the principle of "benefits of peace" then appeared, allowing the size of the armies to be reduced in proportion to the reduction in the threat. Little by little, the French armies evolved towards a military force based on two principles, nuclear deterrence to neutralize major threats, and a global expeditionary force...

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Leopard 2, Leclerc, Merkava: What are modern battle tanks worth? (1/3)

August 30, 2021September 7, 2021

Since its first appearance on the battlefields during the First World War, the battle tank has been the subject of both extreme fascination for some, and total denial for others. Over the course of the conflicts, and the appearance of new weapon systems, such as the anti-tank missile or more recently the wandering ammunition, the end of the supremacy of the tank in land combat has many times been prophesied, following the example other major armaments such as aircraft carriers or combat aircraft. However, it is clear today, as geopolitical tensions continue to grow, that the market...

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Should France develop a medium tank in parallel with the MGCS program?

August 17, 2021March 26, 2022

It is now no secret that the risk of seeing the French armies engaged in a High Intensity conflict has increased considerably in recent years, and will increase in the years and decades to come. It is in this context that Paris and Berlin launched, in 2017, several industrial defense programs in cooperation, the most symbolic of which are the new generation SCAF combat aircraft program to replace the French Rafale and German Typhoon, and the MGCS combat tank program, to replace, among other things, the Leclercs of the Army and the Leopard 2s of the Bundeswehr.…

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The National Guard, a favorite format for High Intensity

July 13, 2021December 3, 2021

The military parade on July 14, 2021, which will take place as always on the Avenue des Champs-Elysées, will this year be on the theme of "High Intensity", a notion that has recently reappeared with the resurgence of this type of commitment, and the rise in power of certain armed forces such as China or Russia. However, if the French Armies will highlight their high-performance equipment, such as the Rafale, the Leclerc tanks, the VBMR Griffon or the new ships of the National Navy during this event, they will not be able to hide their more than limited capacities in this area. , inherited from 25 years of budgetary decisions and…

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