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French and British armed forces to train together during the Griffin Strike military exercice 30104164

Armies in the world- France, United Kingdom

French and British armed forces to train together during the Griffin Strike military exercice

Exercise Griffin Strike 2016 is a live exercise by joint UK and French forces known as the Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF). The large exercise being held in April on the Salisbury Plain Training Area (SPTA) is the culmination of six years of UK-French military cooperation and will demonstrate the CJEF’s potential high-readiness to deploy.

Exercise Griffin Strike 2016 is a live exercise by joint UK and French forces known as the Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF) (Photo: UK MoD)

French military units, equipment and vehicles will join forces with those of the Royal Navy, Army and RAF. Interoperability training will include ground close combat, mechanized movements and air assault insertions. Maritime activities will include amphibious assault, aviation and combat logistics patrols.

Troops on the ground will be supported by RAF Typhoons and French Rafale as well as attack helicopters. Warships of both nations will be deployed to sea from which training and military movements will be coordinated.

The exercise will culminate with a Land Firepower Demonstration, supported by air, with UK and French troops working side by side on Salisbury Plain, attack helicopters, Close Air Support and the mock seizure of a village by mechanized infantry.

Three key elements include:
- Land Component Command (LCC): a tactical forward headquarters based on SPTA, involving 3 PARA with a French mechanized infantry company taking part in air drops, link-ups and urban operations;
- Air Component Command (ACC): will operate from RAF High Wycombe and involve air planning and combat operations command and control;
- Maritime Component Command (MCC): will operate from two Carrier Manoeuvre Boxes in the Bristol Channel with a small contingent at RAF St Mawgan. Activity will include amphibious assaults on to the Pembrokeshire coast with tactical activity in Sennybridge training area.

The national security interests of the UK and France are more aligned now than ever before. Both countries have made a commitment to enhance the long-term bilateral relationship envisaged by the Lancaster House treaties in 2010 in the face of global threats and an increasingly unstable world.

CJEF is an early entry combined force capable of conducting non-enduring, complex intervention operations, facing multiple threats up to the highest intensity. It will be able to conduct offensive and defensive operations on land, in the air and at sea wherever UK and France national defence interests are aligned.