French Military Drills Test Tactical Drone Warfare with Spanish Support in Large-Scale Exercise

A major NATO exercise in France is testing the integration of drone-armed combat cells within multinational military units, with Spanish forces contributing helicopters and personnel to the operation.

The Orion 26 exercise, taking place in western France, involves approximately 120,000 troops from French, Polish, British, Italian and Spanish forces under the command of the French 1st Army Corps. The scenario simulates a high-intensity conflict in a fictional country resembling France, designed to validate France’s ability to lead a corps-level European force in NATO operations.

As part of the exercise, the French 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade is organizing its platoons into small drone-armed combat cells, a doctrinal shift aimed at enhancing battlefield agility and responsiveness. These units are equipped with unmanned aerial systems for reconnaissance and precision strikes, reflecting lessons learned from recent conflicts regarding the growing importance of drone warfare.

Spanish participation includes 60 military personnel and six aircraft deployed from the Chaumont air base in eastern France. The Spanish contingent is involved in tactical infiltration missions, taking off at dawn under clear skies to locate enemy positions and neutralize them using guided drones launched from combat helicopters.

The exercise emphasizes mobile command structures, with forward command posts established 80 to 100 kilometers from the engagement zone. These armored, relocatable posts are designed to improve the observe-orient-decide-act (OODA) loop by placing decision-making closer to the front lines, a departure from NATO’s traditional fixed rear-area command model.

France’s efforts to strengthen its drone warfare capabilities are being accelerated through the 2024–2030 Military Programming Law, which increases spending on loitering munitions, tactical drones, Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance UAVs (MALE UAVs), swarm technologies, and counter-unmanned aircraft systems. The law draws direct lessons from the war in Ukraine to drive technological innovation and operational training across the armed forces.

Orion 26 serves as a critical test of France’s role as a framework nation within NATO, particularly as the United States encourages European allies to assume greater responsibility for collective defense. The exercise includes the first-time integration of a French-led corps into a NATO command structure during a large-scale conflict scenario.

Officials involved in the exercise stress that the training is essential for readiness, with the overarching message being that European forces must be prepared to respond effectively to high-intensity, multi-domain warfare.