The “tactical infiltration” starts early and with clear skies, when about twenty combat helicopters begin to take off from the French air base of Chaumont, in Haute-Marne, in the east of the country. 400 military personnel participate in the operation, 60 of them Spanish, contributing six aircraft. As in a real war, they have been informed of the mission shortly before: they have to locate enemy positions and neutralize them with drones guided from the aircraft.
☀️ #Goodmorning. Units of The “Aragón” I Brigade are deployed in Camp de Jaulges #France participating in the multinational exercise #ORION26, one of the largest military maneuvers organized by @armeedeTerre 🇫🇷 in 2026.
— Ejército de Tierra 🇪🇸 (@EjercitoTierra) April 23, 2026
🛡️ This exercise integrates… pic.twitter.com/549TtcQ4Sa
“The operation has been successfully completed, as the enemy has been eliminated. This type of maneuver develops in several phases. First, we blend in with the terrain to go unnoticed and surf the landscape,” explains Hugo R., who does not wish to provide his surname and is one of the pilots of the Fourth Air Combat Brigade (BAC) who participated this Thursday in this aerial simulation of the Orion 26 project.
“In a second phase, the targets have been set and drones have been launched, loaded with ammunition and remotely guided from the aircraft, which have neutralized these enemy positions. We had the support of a patrol of Spanish helicopters tasked with tactical infiltration, with very low flight that then ascends, in case there are targets left to eliminate,” continues Hugo R.
Orion 26 is one of the largest military exercises in Europe within the framework of NATO and is led by the French army. Conditions are recreated for a high-intensity war between two states of similar forces, and armies are trained to coordinate and act jointly if the worst-case scenario occurs.
EL PAÍS has embarked on one of the helicopters for this aerial simulation in which the Spanish army participated, with six aircraft. It has been “a successful exercise thanks to the coordination between helicopters and guided drones,” states Sebastien M., a French military officer in command of the aircraft. During the flight, he explained to his cabin mate that, in this context, “the most effective maneuver occurs when you are able to see the sky and the earth at the same time.”
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The last Orion operation took place in 2023, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Today, the threat is much greater and not only in European territory. “The conditions of a large-scale war are reproduced. We train to be ready and to be able to reproduce, if that happens, what we do here. Although it is a simulation, the conditions are as realistic as possible, both in our living conditions and in the definition of the tactical plan, the enemies, etc.,” explains Lieutenant Manuel Gómez Limón, from the Spanish battalion, made up of 60 soldiers. “We seek synergies and each country contributes its knowledge and its means. Coordination between different countries is vital, and it allows us not to depend solely on a large army,” he says.
The military maneuvers, which are carried out in 19 departments across France, began in early February and conclude next week. They involve a total of 25 countries, with 12,500 military personnel, more than 2,000 vehicles, 40 helicopters, and 1,000 drones. They have been developed in four phases: the initial phase, of military escalation by a fictional state; the invasion of a part of the territory; the activation of a collective defense; and the planning of the operation. This week, the last stage is underway, that of recreating a troop deployment, already at war.
“Spain has contributed its helicopters for tactical, reconnaissance, and also cargo flights. Next week we switch sides, because this is like a war game, and it’s our turn to be the friendly side. We receive information with very little time to maneuver, which is what would happen in a real scenario,” says Lieutenant Manuel Gómez Limón.
“Helicopter attacks occur mainly at night in a high-intensity context, which is where these exercises take place,” warns Olivier Hautreux, commander in charge of the fourth French air combat brigade. He recalls the importance of coordination in such large-scale maneuvers. In the current context, “it allows us to have a very complete scenario, where the entire operational chain is fed and work is done in real time as if we had enemy forces in front of us.”
Thursday’s maneuvers also involved a brigade tasked with gathering information on enemy positions, “either through the electromagnetic spectrum, by intercepting radio or walkie communications, or thanks to teams close to these positions to gather information. It is essential, because without prior information we cannot operate. Our objective is to warn about which positions the helicopters need to attack,” says Romain P., one of the military personnel in charge of this mission. In addition to Spain, Italian and Greek soldiers also participate in the maneuvers at the base near Chaumont. After almost three months of mission, Commander Hautreux believes that the success of the maneuvers has been demonstrated and that “this collaboration with other countries is perfectly achieved.”
