France Prepares for Urban Warfare: The Army Trains for War in the City

Just days before the celebrations for France's National Day on July 14, the French Army is placing a focus on an area of training that long received little public attention: combat in urban terrain. While soldiers, vehicles and aircraft demonstrate military strength on the Champs-Élysées, the land forces are preparing under realistic conditions for a scenario that military planners now consider particularly likely: fighting in densely populated cities against a technologically equal opponent. As part of the large-scale ORION 2026 exercise, numerous units of the French Armed Forces are undertaking ...