Orion26 brings together 1,300 military from five countries – Portugal Resident

The Portuguese army is preparing to lead “the largest land component exercise” of Orion26, between May 18 and 29, bringing together more than 1,300 military personnel from Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, and Romania.

Coordinated by the Land Forces Command, Orion26 is an operational and tactical exercise that combines field training with computer-assisted command post exercises, designed to prepare the European Battle Group (EUBG) commitment to plan and conduct European Union crisis management operations.

The exercise – held at the Santa Margarida Military Camp, in the municipality of Constância, district of Santarém – will also serve to prepare the Intervention Brigade for the planning and conduct of an operation under Article 5 of NATO.

According to the Army, the EUBG is a multinational rapid reaction force of the European Union, focused on the land component, but also integrating naval, air and special operations assets, composed of approximately 2,200 military personnel from Portugal, France, Italy, Romania and Spain.

The force is commanded by a Portuguese general officer, commander of the Mechanised Brigade, based in Santa Margarida, Constância.

As part of Orion26, the Rifle Company of the Madeira Military Zone, composed of 120 military personnel, will also be certified to integrate the EUBG, reinforcing “the readiness, interoperability and projection capacity” of Portuguese forces in a multinational context.

The Army has also indicated that the main objective of the exercise is to integrate the EUBG forces and the ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance) capabilities, a surveillance, reconnaissance, detection and acquisition of targets system designed to collect, process and disseminate information in support of operations.

The exercise culminates on May 29, at the Mechanised Brigade, in Santa Margarida, with a display of capabilities and resources of the participating forces, and with a tactical exercise with live fire, involving the main weapon systems used in Orion26.

In 2025, Exercise Orion involved approximately 1,700 military personnel from the same five countries, serving to certify the European Union’s multinational rapid reaction force commanded by Portugal, in a commitment considered historic by the Portuguese Army.

Orion26 exercises have been going ahead previously this year in France, where their focus was altogether larger. Euronews explains that the three-month exercise involved 12,500 troops, 25 ships and 140 aircraft as France and 24 allies rehearsed high‑intensity warfare in Europe amid growing Russian threats.

The drill was based on a fictional scenario involving two countries (called Arnland and Mercury) directly inspired by the Russian threat in Europe. “In the scenario, Mercury, an expansionist state, opposes its neighbour Arnland, which Mercury seeks to destabilise to prevent its rapprochement with the European Union. France leads an international coalition to defend Arnland against increasing hybrid actions and support from Mercury-backed militias”.

In this first component of Orion26, military from Japan, Switzerland, Morocco and the United States took part, alongside both French military and reservists.

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is an alliance formed by 31 countries, including Portugal, the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, and France. The organisation was created in 1949, during the so-called Cold War, under the leadership of the United States of America in opposition to the defunct Soviet Union, and has undergone successive expansions since then.

Article 5 of NATO establishes the principle of collective defense of the Atlantic Alliance, determining that an armed attack against one of the member countries is considered an attack against all, and may trigger a joint military and political response from the allies.

Source: LUSA/ Euronews