The French Air Force carried out a major operation overnight from March 16 to 17. Named Poker, it is actually an exercise aimed at training the air forces for a nuclear raid on the territory, as reported by Le Parisien. This exercise is not related to the unstable international situation and France’s involvement in the conflict in the Middle East, in support of its regional allies. In fact, it has been taking place four times a year since 1964.
Altogether, forty planes were mobilized for this operation against a fictional attack: Rafale, Mirage 2000, Awacs radar planes, and A330 MRTT tankers. They departed from Brittany in the middle of the night, skirting the Atlantic coast, then the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean. The Rafale fighters then refueled one by one at dawn before arriving in central France to simulate a missile launch with a range of several hundred kilometers. The armed forces are put under difficult conditions to be ready for all scenarios, such as jammed GPS navigation and disrupted radio communications. The goal is to “test our ability to act in a very high-intensity degraded mode,” according to General Stephane Virem, head of the Armed Forces.
Showcasing France’s ability to respond to this type of attack
The goal of Operation Poker is to “show our opponent our ability to carry out the mission” and to “establish the operational credibility” of French deterrence, according to the deputy commander of the Armed Forces. At the beginning of March, Emmanuel Macron spoke of “advanced deterrence” with eight European countries. However, the French military chief would be the only one to make the “ultimate decision impulse” for a nuclear response. Nevertheless, this “advanced deterrence” would allow “partners to participate in deterrence exercises,” such as Operation Poker.
