As part of the high-intensity operational readiness exercise, Polaris 25, France conducted a “Rehearsal1 from June 1 to 6.
On the Devon coast in southwest England, the “Rehearsal” took the form of landing activities for troops and equipment, by air and sea, in a tactical context alongside British, Spanish, Italian and Brazilian partners.
For four days, air and sea rotations allowed land units, embarked aboard the amphibious helicopter carriers Dixmude and Tonnerre , but also allied units (Spanish Galicia and Italian San Giorgio) to land daily. The perfect execution of this sequence, despite difficult weather conditions, demonstrates the close coordination between the French Navy and the amphibious units of the Army.
The tactical command post of the Landed Force Command (CLF 2), manned by the 9th Marine Infantry Brigade, and that of the 2nd Marine Infantry Regiment were landed and their connectivity to land and with the ship tested.
Faced with inclement weather and rough seas, the embarked joint staff nimbly adapted the conduct of operations, drawing on the combined expertise of sailors and land-based personnel, all transformed into “amphibians”.
The scale and complexity of the exercise, the scenario chosen with a first entry into a context of rapidly escalating crisis, the wealth of joint and inter-allied resources, the diversity of training possibilities offered, all confirm the interest of the POLARIS 25 exercise in preparing forces towards a hardened amphibious capability.
The outline of an amphibious operation follows the PERMSAT (Planning-Embarkment-Rehearsal-Movement-Shaping-Action-Termination) framework. Rehearsal (rehearsal) allows for the mechanization of amphibious skills, the adaptation of ship loading to the final landing plan and, if used for influence, for a demonstration of capability or a deception maneuver, depending on the desired effect.