Military intelligence, artificial intelligence, a command post is deployed within the headquarters of the 1st Division of the Army in Besançon until April 10, 2026, for the XXL Orion military exercise, before expanding to other cities.
Nearly 300 soldiers are mobilized in the Ruty district in Besançon until Friday, April 10, 2026, within the 1st Division of the Army to conduct a large-scale military exercise that takes place every three years. This exercise is ORION 26. Since the end of 2025, the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force have been engaged in a fictional scenario, closely resembling the current situation. The French armed forces are providing support to a NATO-associated nation called “Arnland,” which is under attack by another nation referred to as “Mercury.” The scenario closely mirrors the situation between Ukraine and Russia. After the first three phases dedicated to political decision-making, conquering sensitive areas, and organizational coordination, the fourth and final stage is devoted to “high-intensity warfare.”
“We train for this possible combat,” said Bruno Helluy, commander of the 1st Division of the Army. “Our mission is to destroy the enemy. This is the job as imagined by everyone. The armies train for the most likely combat. Today, it is evident that the strategic context has completely changed, with a high probability of intensity against an enemy of our level. We train for this possible combat, which will surely be very coercive,” continued the general, at the helm of 25,000 men and women.
As soon as you enter the command post, located in the headquarters of the 1st division at the foot of the citadel of Besançon, the soldiers are scanned under the tent. Phones are stored in closed boxes. “We play as we would in reality,” smiled Bruno Helluy, commander of the 1st Division headquarters. “We have to hide and camouflage ourselves. In a city like Besançon, for example, we can hide in industrial zones or in town, spread out in various buildings, far enough apart so that a missile strike cannot completely destroy the headquarters. We bury ourselves for ballistic protection.”
After that, journalists enter a dedicated hangar for operations management. “It is like a Formula 1 stable,” said Colonel Alban, the head of operations management for the 1st Division headquarters. If the first room elaborated on the racing strategy, here “we work on driving the race.” “To continue the metaphor, I speak to the driver, telling them to go right or left.” In this hangar where 60 military personnel are present, some are dedicated to intelligence, coming from satellites, sensors on the ground, and social networks. Others are focused on direct operations, artillery fire, aviation strikes, and helicopters.
Finally, a section is dedicated to artificial intelligence. This “tactical chatGPT” named Berthier was developed by the teams of the Army. Although this AI is still in a “maturation process,” its long-term goal is to provide “hot information” during combat.
