There’s a growing consensus that Europe needs to prepare for war in order to maintain the peace. From the introduction of a new voluntary national service to warning the country to accept ‘the loss of its children’, France is one of the countries most actively preparing. But how ready is it to face a major confrontation?
The country’s 200,000 soldiers are certainly very well trained, but could they withstand Russia’s 950,000 soldiers? At the moment, the army is sorely lacking in equipment. There are not enough fighter jets, drones, or anti-aircraft batteries. We visit an ammunition factory now operating at full capacity that is looking to increase its output.
We also join a strategic NATO mission over the Baltic Sea to track down ships from the Russian ghost fleet. These boats that traffic oil or rip out undersea cables. Cyberattacks on France are becoming more frequent and reveal the fragility of its infrastructure.
For decades, European security has depended mainly on NATO, under-written by America. But under the Trump White House, the spectre of US disengagement threatens to leave the EU without its protector. We investigate the main threats facing Europe and examine how Europe can best defend itself.
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