Military personnel from five EU countries start training on Monday
More than 1,700 military personnel from five European Union (EU) countries will be involved in the Orion25 exercise in Santa Margarida (Constância), in central Portugal, starting on Monday, for the certification of a multinational rapid reaction force commanded by the Portuguese army.
Taking place at the Santa Margarida Military Camp (Santarém), the Orion25 exercise aims to “exercise the integration and interoperability between the forces of the five countries participating in the Battlegroup commitment” of the European Union, which is in the final stages of preparation to respond to “the most demanding type of operations that may be assigned to it”, i.e. prepared to take on a “crisis response operation in a non-permissive environment”, an official Army source has told Lusa.
Orion25, which is “the largest exercise of the land component” of the European multinational force, will involve military personnel from Portugal, France, Italy, Romania and Spain – out of a total of 2,200 military who make up the rapid reaction force under the European commitment.
Taking place until May 16, the exercise is to be set in the ‘Levonto region’ – a fictional geographical area located 6,000 km from Brussels, which does not border any European Union country.
The army source explained that the exercise will be conducted in ‘interface areas’ to operate simultaneously with citizens in urban centres, such as Ponte de Sor, the local aerodrome, the Domingão region and the parish of Bemposta (Abrantes), while at the same time “making the most of the Santa Margarida Military Camp”, the Army’s manoeuvring camp and “area of excellence for military force training”.
Portugal, through the Mechanised Brigade, will take command of a European Union Battlegroup (EUBG) for the first time – a multinational rapid reaction force ready to respond to international crises – a moment considered historic by the Army, General Mendes Ferrão, Chief of Staff of the Army has said.
“It is, in fact, a first, and international recognition, secondly, national recognition of our capabilities, but even more important for the Army is to recover the knowledge at brigade level,” he said at the end of a recent visit to the Taurus exercise, which focused on the command and control aspect of the EUBG, which Portugal will take over in July, in the first phase of readiness.
The force is commanded by Brigadier-General Luís Calmeiro, current commander of the Mechanised Brigade, who tells Lusa that the EUBG “embodies a strong commitment by Portugal, the Armed Forces and the Army to strengthening the European military pillar of security and defence. It is at the disposal of the EU for stabilisation missions and crisis response operations; it is not a force for combat operations.”
The force is joint – including military personnel from the Army, Navy and Air Force – and also combined, because it includes contingents from five countries, with the Santa Margarida Military Camp serving as a “training and certification centre for some of the components” of this force. The Orion exercise will test the full integration of the European Union Battlegroup’s forces and resources.
Orion will focus on the land component but will include naval, air and special operations forces.
On July 1, Portugal will assume a readiness level of 30 days and, from January 1, 2026 to July 1 the force’s readiness level will be 5 to 10 days with a view to its deployment in case of need.
On May 15, the Mechanised Brigade in Santa Margarida will host an exhibition of the capabilities and resources of all the forces included in the European Union Battlegroup and a tactical exercise, with live fire, involving the main weapon systems of the forces that participated in Orion25.
LUSA
