Latest news with #FutureCombatCommand
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
For military staff across Europe, wargaming is all the rage
Once dismissed as frivolous, wargames have emerged as crucial strategic tools amid rising global tensions. A recent simulation at Paris's École Militaire, where 500 participants played out high-intensity conflict scenarios, reflects a growing international trend toward gamified military preparedness. Every person in the packed conference hall stands up as two French soldiers greet each other onstage with a military salute. Major General Bruno Baratz approaches the lectern and speaks into the microphones. 'We are running five minutes behind schedule,' he says with a grin. 'There was a queue to get in.' On the podium from which he speaks are the words 'Jeu de guerre' (Wargame), with the theme of the day written below. It is the year 2035 and France is on the brink of war. A handful of young participants sit at a table in the middle of the stage. A map of central and eastern Europe is splayed across the top, littered with green and red markers. Sliding scales at the bottom of the map represent France's economic, diplomatic, military power and political stability. Then, a fictional news bulletin plays on the projector overhead, upping the stakes. Russian troops have reached the borders of Poland and the Baltic States. China is about to invade Taiwan. And while Europe holds its breath, France enters defence stage three – two steps below full-blown war. The event – organised by Future Combat Command (CCF), a branch of the French Armed Forces tasked with responding to new military threats, alongside two youth organisations – was a hit. France has only recently embraced the use of wargames as a serious military tool. Read more on FRANCE 24 EnglishRead also:Twenty-four hours in Ukraine's Kharkiv, where life goes on despite the warBaltic region prepares for war as Russia and US debate Ukraine's fate
Euronews
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Three years of war in Ukraine: Here's what the French army has learned
Three years of conflict and hundreds of thousands of dead on both the Ukrainian and Russian sides have pushed the French Army to rethink its military strategy. The high-intensity conflict which began after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, foreshadows the war of tomorrow due to the many technological and tactical innovations. It has even pushed the French army to go as far as to create its special defence innovation unit in 2023 known as the Future Combat Command (CCF). "In the end, it's the innovation and adaptability that we've seen throughout this conflict, that mobilises our energy in terms of our own preparation," said General Rodolphe Hardy, second-in-command of the French Army's future combat unit, during a press conference held in Paris on Thursday. The rise of electronic warfare One key takeaway this year: the hidden electronic warfare battle that's reshaping the Ukraine war. Electronic warfare is a technology that interferes with radio communications that can interfere with GPS and drones. "If you can't use your cell phone because it can't connect to a network terminal, it's a bit complicated. So in the military field, whether it's for communications, or GPS-based guidance systems, or for aircraft exchange systems or even the guidance of a drone without a pilot, all of this exploits the electromagnetic field," explained Vice-Admiral Emmanuel Slaars, Deputy Head of Operations to the Chief of Staff of the French Navy to a group of reporters. This has forced French military leaders to reconsider and adapt to the gaps in their capabilities. "We need to be able to influence it, in other words, to disable its use. And this is a domain that's moving very, very fast. We need to be very active in this area because it's a key element," he said during the press conference. The second front on the Black Sea Although the majority of the fighting is on land, there is a second crucial front on the water. The French Armed Forces have also learned how Ukraine has defended parts of the Black Sea using drones. "We saw Ukrainian drones which were very basic at the beginning and which have now become high-tech, even capable of countering helicopters," said Vice-Admiral Slaars. The crucial lessons learned throughout this conflict even inspired the creation of a new NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training, and Education Centre in Poland, inaugurated this week. The goal is to adapt to the new realities on the battlefield.
