French Special Forces demonstrate know-how at SOFINS 2021 defense exhibition.

From June 29 to July 1, 2021, the 5th edition of SOFINS took place at the Souge camp in Gironde, near Bordeaux. This event marks a year of meetings and intense work by the members of the Cercle de l'Arbalète. Unique in Europe, this biannual event is the meeting place of the high technology industry with Special Forces and Special Units. For three days, small, medium and large companies came together under the aegis of the Cercle de l'Arbalète to offer unique solutions tailored to the needs of special operations.

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The scenario involved several transport helicopters (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The military camp located at Souge, near Bordeaux, has been transformed into a place for meetings and technical demonstrations: dynamic tests of equipment in conditions have enabled innovative manufacturers to demonstrate the added value of their equipment for the operator of 'today and tomorrow.

Lt. Gen. Eric Vidaud, commanding of the COS (Commandement des Opérations Spéciales, Special Operations Command), said: "Power relations oppose and will oppose even more tomorrow, actors who cultivate permanent innovation. The protean threats emerging from the hybrid competition and gray-area clashes already pose the greatest challenges in innovation. The spirit of innovation must govern the adaptation of COS. It constantly involves imagining, designing, testing, and possibly leaving it to others, in particular civilian SMEs and mid-sized companies, what the Special Forces have developed and sometimes invented. This civilian-military partnership is an essential key to the success of our operations. The COS relies on the Cercle de l'Arbalète to capture as quickly as possible and best encourage dual or civilian innovation in order to participate in finding the best response to the Special Forces operational needs of today and tomorrow. "

On July 1, the Special Forces carried out an impressive demonstration of their know-how and their various aerial and ground equipment, in a scenario of capture and exfiltration of a terrorist leader. Various units, an Airbus A400M, light, attack and transport helicopters, a Twin Otter, Polaris quads, a Land Rover 110, all adapted to the specific use of special forces, and other means have been implemented. in a dynamism revealing the capacities of action of the French armed forces. Watch it on the Defense Web TV channel of Army Recognition broadcasted on Youtube. 

An Airbus A400M dropped a Special Forces team for a HALO jump on the scene (Picture source: Army Recognition)

A Gazelle helicopter of the Special Forces orbited above the zone, spreading thousands of (blank) ammo with its minigun (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The scenario involved fast-roping of a team (Picture source: Army Recognition)

A C-160 Transall unloaded Special Forces operators using a Polaris BV850 quad and a Land Rover 110 (Picture source: Army Recognition)

Using a good old Twin Otter, the Special Forces surgical team took in charge a wounded who could immediately be treated thanks to the complete medical equipment carried in this STOL aircraft (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The most spectacular evacuation method used in the scenario (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The evacuation method by platform instead of grape is supposed to be less impressive for people not trained to be hooked (Picture source: Army Recognition) (Picture source: Army Recognition)