On Friday 22 September, the European External Action Service (EEAS) announced that the EU’s military crisis management exercise for 2023 (MILEX 23) had begun on 18 September and would continue until 22 October.
“Nineteen Member States will participate in the MILEX 23 to enhance the EU’s military readiness and capacity to respond more quickly and decisively to external conflicts and crises”, said the EEAS in its press release.
From 18 September to 6 October, a Command Post Exercise (CPX) will be conducted, which will “test the military planning process at the military strategic and operational levels”.
This will be followed by the first live military exercise (LIVEX) between 16 and 22 October in Cadiz, Spain. Around 2,800 military personnel from various Member States will take part in a simulation of realistic crisis events specific to military operations and their support. The scenario involves naval elements, land components, air, space and cyber assets, according to the EEAS.
LIVEX will take place on three levels: - an EU Operations Headquarters (OHQ) provided by the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC) in Brussels, at military strategic level; - an EU force headquarters (FHQ) provided by the Spanish armed forces, at operational level; - an EU Battle Group-sized force provided by Spain, as framework nation, with the participation of military units from EU Member States at tactical level.
LIVEX is a step in the development of the EU’s rapid deployment capability and a further step towards achieving full operational capability of the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC) by 2025, according to the EEAS. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)