Correction: Typo at 11:17 ; icon says 1er REP is meant to be 2e REP A graphic showing the entire detailed organization of the Serval Brigade from 17 February to mid-April 2013 can be found here: www.battleorder.org/fr-orbat
Really enjoy your content was wondering if you could do a rundown of the Danish Light Infantry. They were created after "lessons learned" in Afghanistan but are still pretty new in a Danish context and I feel in modern day people mainly talk about regular infantry, motor/mec or spec ops. Either way it's hard to find modern military channels that aren't super dry but your way of presenting stuff makes it easy to understand for a guy like me.
@@bernard8793 What is he even rambling about? lol. Please, get your whiny shit out of here. The guy made a purely tactical video about a military operation that ended 8 years ago. Because that's what his channel does. He's not a geopolitical analyst. Armed forces, their organization, weapons, tactics, historical battles... that's what we're about here. Now to address your comment: Indeed, the marriage deal is extremely odd and it is an interesting point to raise but your latter points just reeks of ideology. You know... the typical pseudo-anti-colonialist lad who spends his time spewing horseshit about something he is actually not much knowledgeable about.... "France has been meddling with Malian affairs for over 200 years"... Yeah, which is France had no involvement whatsoever in Mali until the very late 19th century and colonial rule over French Sudan was secured around 1905?! And Libya was certainly not embroiled in a civil war before the west got involved, right? France obviously started the Libyan Civil War. The Egyptian crisis was also France's fault and the Tunisian one too. The Maghreb was perfectly stable and nothing called the Arab Spring was occuring before Sarkozy saw an opportunity to have France militarily support the rebellion to cover his corruption. You even managed the good ol' bullshit about the FCFA as all ignorant dumbasses do. The FCFA is forced on French colonies? What happened to Guinea when it decided to leave it? Tell us. Having your currency tied to the French Franc, then later to the Euro... which were/are both among the most stable currencies in the world sure necessitated forcing them? Which is why countries that have never been French colonies such as Nigeria (the largest economy in the region and by far the most populous country in west Africa), Ghana, Cape Verde, Liberia, Gambia and Sierra Leone have chosen to be part of ECOWAS. Were they French colonies? Not British or Portuguese? Were they also forced by France? I am even surprised you stopped there with the claims. Where is the classic "eViL fRaNcE fOrCiNg AfRiCaN cOuNtRiEs tO pAy a CoLoNiAl TaX"? I am disappointed. Oh or may be that was you were hinting at with the FCFA?! Edit: Just noticed this now appears like strange rambling but I was replying to a certain Bernard below in the thread whose first comment was an entire dissertation full of horseshit and who has bravely deleted it since then.
This conflict really is a masterclass in logistics and the title of the video describing it as a "lightning war" is not at all clickbait. 6 weeks of constant mobile combat across 3,000 miles is absolutely insane. That's like driving from Miami to Seattle while constantly having someone shoot at you every time you stop for gas.
@@Trubbl3 Battle Order was more focused on the operation itself and didn't go into more details in the introduction but those fuckers were blessed by the goldmine (or the mess in our case) we made out of Libya... most of their weapons are supplied from there. There was a documentary a few years ago about the origins of the Islamists groups and their networks, how they are supplied and the implications of some states (Qatar being the biggest culprit) in the whole process. I wouldn't call that "less heavily armed". Let me guess... you went with "Mali = Black Africa, Black Africa = poorer than poor, so Mali = more backward than primitive weaponry" hahahaha. The secessionist Tuareg community as a whole that rebelled against the Malian government was not that well-armed but they're not the ones the French actually mainly thought and are still fighting there. Their movement got hijacked by AQMI and its offshoots. AQMI is an Algerian faction. The likes of Droukdel and his buddies had a search warrant on them since the 1990s for their war crimes in the Algerian Civil War and involvement in the GSPC and GIA, before they were killed by the French. They weren't random secessionists or even Malians, but actual seasoned high-profile Islamists. The French didn't have much issues with the Tuaregs as a whole because they are secular and only had grievances with the government, which obviously was none of France problem as it didn't want to meddle in that aspect. Most Tuaregs obviously didn't belong to Islamist groups and weren't radicals. The actual extremists were a minority and their peers are from all over the Sahel and North Africa, they are not national groups. AQMI is mostly made up of Algerians, Morrocans and people from the Saharan communities (which include the some Tuaregs and Berabiche tribal clans of Mali for example).
@@Itachi951000 do not compare french logistics weaponry armour, vehicles and tech to solely infantry ak wielding fighters in mali, the french should have seized every inch of the enemy territory with their modern equipment but still managed to fail and allow the insurgency to recover gain power and support and overwhelm them
@@Bellasrius You thought I was saying that AQIM was as well equipped as the French military? lmao. I was merely saying they were as well armed as the major Islamist groups in the middle-east the west has fought the last two decades. And that's exactly the whole point of counter-insurgency warfare, Einstein: lesser equipped guerillas being able to survive against superior professional militaries. When the war was still fairly conventional, France made easy work of the enemy. That was not unexpected. It wouldn't be considered a top military if it failed at doing that. The issue here is that the war turned into a huge mess when it became a counter-insurgency focused conflict from one end of Africa to the other. Operation Serval was solely in Mali, a country 3 to 4 times the size of mainland France. Its successor, Operation Barkhane, became even more ridiculous as it encompassed Mauritania, Mali, Burkina-Faso, Niger and Chad. Take a look at their size on a map. The insurgency spreading is notably due to ISIS trying to expand in the Greater Sahara after their shortcomings in the middle-east and all these new offshoot groups that weren't there a decade ago seeing light, not just in the Sahel but as far as southern Africa as you know. For France, it became like trying to pacify Europe from Portugal to Moscow with 5,200 men (which is what France's peak strength during the entire thing was and why it started asking for more assistance from other European countries and the US). The UN mission (MINUSMA) is obviously not there for combat and to hunt down the Jihadist groups with the French and only has a presence in Mali. They are there to keep watch and protect the population/patrol. The EU mission is solely a training mission and the Task Force Takuba, based in Mali, was only recently created. It is only made up of a few hundreds special forces from France and some EU countries and didn't even get to be fully operational as we're all now leaving Mali. Tell us, strategic genius! How easy is it to win such wars? Give us an example of who has been winning them. I'm waiting. Winning asymetrical wars is impossible unless you level up the place for real and don't care about the population, and even when you care like right now, collateral damages still occasionally happen. France is there to fight AQIM, IS-GS and the affiliated groups, not to kill random Malians, Mauritanians or Chadians in the process.
For reference Mali is roughly the size of the Iberian peninsula, France, Benelux and Switzerland combined. And the Sahel region the size of Europe from Portugal to Moscow or the contiguous USA. It's a HUGE operational theater, larger than Irak or Afghanistan!
@@Klliansimabras GTIA 3 pulled a 5000 Km uninterrupted Thunder Run. They basically crossed the Atlantic Ocean! People make fun of our wheelies but you can't pull that off with tracked vehicles without stopping to change tracks every 500kms or so!
Yeah, and even then, it was an insane compilation of bad luck, incompetence of the top, and miscommunication/bad doctrine technology... Like, the more I learned about what actually happened, the more I went "you cannot even make this shit up" (reality being stranger than fiction)
the french got their asses whop'd by the vietnamese rice farmers who wanted their independence. After they got their asses whop'd so bad they called the americans to help them.
@@joeyyc8515 You have to be very methodical basically; take a block, secure it, bring ammo and troops up and then move to the next block, then to the next neighborhood etc
@@centurymemes1208 Battle Order went out of its way to mention throughout the video nearly all the regiments deployed and how the French army operates and you still managed to miss it? How many times did you hear the words "Marine" or "RIMa" compared to "Foreign" here for example? And did you notice "Foreign" being mentioned anymore than "Chasseurs", "Hussars", "Engineer", "Artillery" or (regular) "Infantry" regiments? What he did is a welcomed surprise as those not too familiar with the French military borderline speak as if the Legion was all there was to it and that France wouldn't have one of the best trained, experienced and fully professional militaries around if it were to get rid of its tradition of having a specific corps of its land force opened to foreigners 😂. The French Foreign Legion is an integral part of the French army and also only represents a tiny part of it as clearly shown in the video. It isn't an independent corps regardless of symbolic pledges to honor history/tradition. Elements of the FFL regiments and elements drawn from the much more numerous standard French regiments are deployed together. The various units get mixed to form cohesive tactical groups. They all operate under the same high-command.... because again, it is the French Armed Forces, nothing more, nothing less. You'll be surprised to learn that the overwhelming majority of people serving in the French military are French (shocking, I know) and that ALL generals and officers are also French (yes, even those of the Legion). In other words... In case you still don't get it.... It is a French operation.... planned by the French. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
@@wozza77able funny thing is third world peasants CAN actually kick first world and second world asses. Unless your living situation resembles that of third world conditions, you can't kick ass.
The initial Gazelle run was super risky and could easily have been a disaster. Incredibly brave of those to undertake that mission in such light aircraft against what would have been an unknown force strength and composition with insufficient time to prepare.
But it was necessary for French forces to determine the tempo of the conflict, by breaking the enemy advance and making them retreat the French dictated the pace of the conflict into the one they wanted. If the insurgents kept going it would have been more difficult on the French forces since they would not have been as able to stablish they C&C network and logistics, making the enemy retreat meant that it gave French forces breathing time to gather and get ready for offensive operations
The pilot of the first Gazelle that crashed was from my hometown, he didn't survive the crash unfortunately but he contributed greatly to the effort to push back the insurgents who committed atrocities everywhere they went. Sacrifices have to be made in these types of missions.
@@ilo3456 Absolutely necessary to intervene to blunt the rapid advance though it was still exceptionally risky to use Gazelles on an armed convoy ground attack though you always work with the assets you have in theatre. The incredible skill and daring of those pilots and crew ensured a successful mission.
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This episode reminded me of the loss of I think two armed gazell helicopters on the day of the San Carlos landing in the 1982 Falklands war. After that incident the gazells present were no longer used in an armed escort role.
@ For most of NATO forces, France use them aggressively (and mostly successfully) in ground attack roles in African operations where they favour mobility over survivability. I'd imagine if they had some of their Eurocopter tigers or Ground Attack/Multirole Jets in theatre for rapid deployment they would have used those instead.
WW2 stained the French military's reputation, but before WW2 and since the Cold War, France actually has developed a very powerful and advanced military force which among the strongest in the world. I for one am incredibly grateful having France as an ally in NATO. Vive la France!
"WW2 stained the French military's reputation". Everyone forgets that France _won_ WW2. Yes, they lost the battle of France (so did the UK), but that wasn't the end of the war.
@@TheMrcassina Britain hasn't got that great of a land army because it always used its control of the sea more It's an island, you cannot just swim there and hope to be effective in conquering it Were they not an island history would be much different
Ummm you do realise France isn't part of the NATO force. They left in the early 50s because they couldn't lead the military force instead of America. Funnily enough that's why Macron is a huge advocate for an EU combined military force. Amazing how people don't know this fact.
My cousin fought in this war with several other Swedish forces. It was several years ago. Hes currently retired from the army and suffers from PTSD after an IED blew up their convoy followed by an ambush. Several of his friends died in the attack. I pray for those still fighting in Mali.
I remember when we flew to Mali we stopped in Stockholm and picked up Swedish soldiers as well but we diverged in Bamako, idk where they went but we went to Gao.
I don't think the Swedes were there for Operation Serval, were they? IIRC the 150 men Sweden sent to support France took part in the subsequent counter-insurgency operation (Barkhane).
@@ASH12B Are you aware of how dumb you sound considering the video you're commenting on? Whether it is the Legion or the other French corps, you won't do shit lmao.
@Bullett-Tooth Tony. Thanks for this warm comment. Soon enough, it might be that we'll be fighting alongside each other against the new tyrant from Eastern Europe. I cite no-one, just follow my stance!
@@cebonvieuxjack You were our greatest rival ever for 1000 years, and as much as our nations lock horns with each other we are allies in this day and age. Even old enemies can show respect.
France was able to accomplish its military goals fairly quickly and effectively but like every time in modern warfare, the occupation and stabilization missions were borked from the beginning
at least they knew the importance to get local troops involved from the beginning. At nearly every step they were accompanied by african troops when entering cities, showing that there does not come a white colonist army but also lots of african soldiers for an african people and this were the soldiers that stayed mostly (i know, subsaharan and arabic are not the same, but they learned from afghanistan)
occupation ? If they didn't want us they will tell us to leave but even the military junta didn't ask us to leave. They even accuse us to abandon them in UN.
Yeah in part it looks like from this video they forgot about the army completely... Like how is a highly mobile force suposed to defnd a city? Which unlike the US which could have defnded South Vietnam and Afgastan forever the French unless they brought the army in recnt imes(This is my first time hearing of this conflict at all.) I doubt they could hold any land.
@@MrTangolizard 30% isn't 100%, and then the goal of France has never been to be the only one to fight in Africa. Actually, the more international the operation was the more successful our operation would have been.
@@MrTangolizard France relies more on Ukranian and Russian private contractors for heavy lift via Antonovs than the UK to be honest. And the heavy lift was not primordial as A) you need a proper international airport with a huge runway to land a C17 or Antonov . A rarity in the Sahel region B) all the French kit that was deployed during Serval can fit in a A400M Atlas, Transall or Hercules. AMX-10C, VBCI, CAESAR, VAB, Sagaie, all fit in those tactical lift planes! Heavy lift just allows you to fit a couple of these vehicles per plane instead of a single one per plane. As we did not deploy the 52 ton Leclerc tank, not necessary. TLDR, heavy lift was a welcomed luxury but not indispensable for Opération Serval.
France leaves: three months later headline like: 'Moura massacre: the explosive UN report', 'Mali junta announces two-year delay until democratic rule' 'Over 500 killed in Mali clashes as military junta loses grip' really makes you realise just how much Mali depended on the French to keep the peace and to maintain ethics in the military.
Yeah well we have other things to do than spend our money on military operations thousands of kilometers away. For securing a cheap supply of uranium, why not, but if there's nothing for us, we'll just leave, fuck spending money we don't even have
@@jeanladoire4141 Et encore. L'Uranium c'est au Niger , pas au Mali. C'était surtout pour éviter la contagion aux pays voisins. Et encore on est entrain de se retirer de l'Uranium au Niger justement.
It’s funny how people are so suprised at this. France has one of the most advanced and best trained military forces in the world. Just because of some ww2 stereotypes (which are not even true) people think the French military is lazy, chaotic and “always run away”. Anyone who starts war with France these days should really rethink that decision…
@@WECR everyone lost in Vietnam. They won against Mexico, they just weren’t able to maintain control. The peninsular war in Spain was a guerilla war, not a conventional one. No one successfully invaded Russia since the Mongol empire.
@@mrbrainbob5320 they would’ve probably won in Spain if they weren’t distracted by the invasion of Russia and if Britain and Portugal didn’t reinforce the Spanish. As for Mexico, the invasion was a success but the peoples that stayed in Mexico to maintain control of the country weren’t able to.
As a French I aslo fill super disappointed regarding the lack of gratitude and respect for the fact that for 9 years French soldiers fought and 53 of them die for the security/prosperity of these people. They would have been the most retarded Kalifa in the world, there is nothing in Mali...
A veteran of Serval told me that on the radio and phone cellular taps : they sometimes heard the jihadist leaders treat the French as "rabid dogs who never let go of their prey" in Arab language.. To date, the toll of Islamists from various factions killed by the French is 3,000, , according to the body count carried out, for 53 French soldiers killed, half of them in accidents. A nice little ratio that gives combat effectiveness. So...A small thought for these 53 citizens, including 1 woman.
Organised, highly trained professional soldiers are almost always superior to conscripts. Who in turn are almost always superior to militias. When you add in total air supremecy it's totally lopsided. There is a reason the US replaced their militias with the state national guards, they simply aren't as effective in modern war. It's not a European vs non as well. The Canadian military utterly defeated the Croatian mixed soldiers-militia forces in the single time they fought in Former Yugoslavia. First World western militaries have time to train and train, while militias often win by the enemies moral failing them.
Can you guys stop self congratulations and just admit for a second that the insurgents / terrorists has no state backing or wealthy patrons and all the surrounding nations are squeezing them and France is a part and leader of this alliance.
Because the french are some type of angels that came from the sky to help humanity right?,any country that the baguette eaters have touched crumbled,my country tunisia can't even build a highway or decide the prices of their own resources without consent from france.They called everybody that went against their colonialism terrorist while the terrorists were them.What would you call somebody that came from overseas to eliminate your leaders,install a puppet regime and leave?
Condition is so bad that one African village tried to protest French presence, France dispatched fighter jets to disperse the unarmed protestors. Had their been any civilian casualties they'd have been labelled "terrorists ".
@@zaiedchaalali1939 Are you living in the 1950's ? If the Tunisian government can't build a highway, maybe stop electing terrible leaders. Didn't you have a revolution in 2011 ? Stop blaming a country that you gained independance from more than 60 years ago.
Actually the french pretty much created lightning warfare. Especially during the Napoleonic wars. They just fucked up during WW2 era but it doesn’t change the fact that they fought back and they came back to their mainland not even 4 years after the battle of France ( helped of course but still)
One thing I greatly respects of African Union is their solidarity and trust to send military force to resolve each other's instability. I am sure it is not without it's limitations, critics, and issues, however in the era of nation states, this is truly a remarkable innovation and commitment.
Yes, I noticed ECOMOG is now replaced by ECOWAS, presumably due to their horrendous reputation gained in conflicts like Sierra Leone, where they were summarily executing and extorting the local population, and of course, turning and running at the first sign of trouble
@@BootneckAlphaKilo Well, to be fair, early UN Peacekeeping missions has their failing too. Peacekeeper deploymet is a whole study by itself. The systems seems work well for African countries so far, otherwise they'd stopped doing it a long time ago.
well its in theyr own interest to not to allow establishment of extremist islamic "state" right next to theyr own, these extremists are threat to all of them so it makes sense for them to cooperate.
@@Rvoid no. It works because aside from rare interventions from former colonial powers (UK Belgium France etc) they have no choice. Comparing UN peacekeepers to ECOMOG/ECOWAS is ridiculous
Worked twice with them (both in Mali and CRA the next year) they still have a long way to go to be an effective military tool for local stability and sovereignity. But definitely a very good step forward to assure their full independance against the former colonial powers.
I was in the GTIA2, 4th Company. You can see some of my brothers in arm from the 1st company at 2:44 with whom I went to an other mission the next year, in the same platoon. Easily one of my greatest and proudest achievement. Edit: By the way, at 2:44 the images are from the SANGARIS mission in CRA, not from Serval. You can see it is written on the badge.
I lived in Niger(country right next to Mali) back when this was happening, and it was crazy to me that so little attention was given to this in Western media. I'm literally not kidding when I say I've seen convoys of French Tanks and military vehicle, at least 4-5 minutes long at least every week passing through. Seeing French Fighter Jets was quite a common occurence at one point. And it was all over so fast, you wouldn't realize they'd effectively reduced the power of such a serious threat. I always wondered what the logistics of such a fast war would've been like. I think the French army still kept pushing in Mali afterwards, because I remember the amount of convoys increase in the latter years. Especially with the rise of other terrorist organizations like Boko Haram Thanks for covering this.
Thanks for your positive imput ! This is becoming rare in the region. France in Africa has made mistakes in the past, and is not perfect, but has improved a lot i think. This operation was a miltary success, thanks also to the neigbors of Mali who also helped and paid with their soldiers lives in some cases. This was also a moral victory. France, an ally, was asked to intervene and did so without asking any favor in return. Of course it had interests in the region, (uranium mines in Niger) but so do all countries. I is sad to see how all have turned out. Ressentment against France, fuelled by the new regime, corruption, and Russia pulling the string in the shadow...
Western media only covers what is beneficial for them. France has a heavy neo-colonial presence in modern Africa. The only reason they got involved here is because they wanted to retain that economical grip on Mali. There was no reason for the media to cover it, because they weren't fighting against another superpower. They didn't need to gather popular support on the world stage, because US and Europe already back them, while Russia and China have no interests there.
Very interesting how different the French are organized. They seem optimized for these types of counterinsurgency and low-intensity conflicts. Would like to see a video on the major reformation of the French army that occurred I believe in the early 2000s which decoupled their logistics into its own sub-brance. I believe it was the French Land Forces Component Command concept. Also, I am very intrigued by airborne engineer platoons. How does a platoon-sized element look like? What is it exactly that they do?
The platoon mentionned in the video isn't actually a unit of its own, like the rest of the force, it was merged into the joint tactical groups for the duration of the mission depending on who was the closest, most ready and in that case, what the needs were. They didn't need to deploy the full 17th Engineers Parachute Regiment, not even a company, so they just took a platoon
@@BattleOrder That makes sense. I would imagine they would have some portable mine-clearing equipment then. Thanks for the response. On a side note: I've always thought long ago, before your channel's existence, that if I ever started a youtube channel, it would be exactly what you guys are doing right now, except your production quality is very next-level than what I would have done. Thanks for all the content. Out of the thousand+ subscriptions, you are one of less than ten that I have the bell notifications for :)
@@TheCoolCucumber Depending on where it takes place and the context, I do think France could win against Russia. I am no military expert but the russians' logistics are terrible their equipment and tactics don't enable them to fight too far from their borders while French have many assets through the world and are able to project their force anywhere on the globe
I knew the French were badass but I don’t know many countries who could get this many men and vehicles in country and working this quick. Not to mention out of those countries who could achieve this I don’t know many who would commit to doing this so quick.
@Ben I'm not sure what you mean by more effective per capita, but the US has done plenty of Operations similar to the one in Mali. Operation Inherent Resolve and Grenada come to mind. The US also has supported South American nations against their freedom fighters and cartels for decades now.
Honestly, as a Nigerian, I for one support France's efforts in the Sahel. Simply put: the local governments there are terrible with managing their countries and curtailing islamic extremism and the fallout has been negatively affecting my own country with fulani terrorists and insurgents from Chad, Niger, and Mali causing problems and committing atrocities nd raising insecurity in Nigeria. If France is the only power that can keep them in check, I welcome them.
But what does it cost you to allow the french in ????? The french are obviously not doing it out of the kindness of their hearts !!! You really think the french decided to risk french lives because they love you and are defenders of democracy.....lol....????? If only you had oil, then the USA will also 'help' you !!!!!!
@@supa3ek But we do have oil in Nigeria and we do have security deals with America, though not as extensive as that of Israel and Taiwan. So what are you talking about? ALso, you didn't answer my question. If these local governments cannot keep their countries stable and keep terrorism in check, why should I not support France doing their job? I know France is not altruistic but you think I want more insecurity in my country because Chad, Niger and Mali are too stupid to fix their own?
@@supa3ek There is no country that is altruistic. When USA joined allies in ww1, it was because France and UK can't reimburse what they owned to america if they lose.
@@leduoanime9156 Exactly. Wilson legitimately believed in the democratic cause, but the bottom line was that the US economy would be in trouble if the Allies lost WWI. People like Danny strawman the US and France and apply a false moral narrative. He probably doesn't apply such moral standards to Russia and China, let alone the Islamists that France is helping to fight.
Thank you very much. I appreciate you covering this. I'd like to take a moment to thank my French brethren for defending all of us. I am very proud of the French military. Keep France strong, keep the world safe. Respect. Viva la France! Semper Paratus
The priority given to pursuit through mobility made a major difference in countering the insurgency post stabilization, and it's something i find most conventional military forces to completely ignore which in turn baffles me. By constantly pursuing and putting pressure on the insurgents both strategically and tactically, and prioritizing mobility it prevented the insurgents from melting back into the landscape and allowed the french forces to dictate their engagements. All too often conventional forces allow insurgents to slip by after contact without any real thought given to an immediate pursuit. Insurgents are most vulnerable when they're exposed and in the open, exploiting this before they can go back into hiding should be considered crucial.
Mobility means lack of armor, which means body bags, which means political suicide. Its also harder to use air support when highly mobile. Also take into consideration high mobility is very volatile. You might over shoot the enemy and then they are hitting your supply lines or ambushing you in unexpected places. The key to victory is just dont be an imperial POS in the first place.
@@Deno2100 I’m sorry, what? “It’s also harder to use air support when highly mobile.” Technically true, but literally what air support was invented for because it was possible to use when highly mobile whereas heavy artillery wasn’t
@@Deno2100 Not necessarily. The French were always moving even with their larger formations, which made them harder to pinpoint and isolate. Logistics was rightfully considered an afterthought as the ability of any insurgency to interdict logistics is usually pretty limited and rudimentary.
@@farmerboy916 To say that air support was used to replace artillery rings false with me. The first planes have very little fire power and the ones that eventually did have firepower were not used in a way similar to or in a way that mimicked artillery.
Great summary of what was a significantly complex operation. As a former British soldier of 24 years service, my last tour was with the French and US SOF in Tchad on Op BARKHAIN. With a typical British bias against the French I was immensely impressed with how they operated and performed in West Africa, especially after the catastrophes in Afghanistan. But don't be misled, the French armed forces are not to be underestimated, they are excellent soldiers and very capable. I still feel proud to have served alongside them. Vive La France Mon amies
Literally love the French military. I love playing dumb when people reference surrender in WW2 as the baseline of their knowledge. Literally the strongest military in Europe and man for man as good of a force as there is. They might be relatively small compared to other world powers but they have the organizational and logistical ability to support every unit they have. Add on their own domestic arms industry, the French military is objectively one of the finest in the world right now
@@kindlytoxic1472 bruh no it's not an European country, just because some of your forces are stationned in an European countries doesn't mean your military is considered an European militarh
When faced vs another conventianal foe like a European army France wont hold up well. We have to note that their army and doctrine is fully made for fighting in Africa vs rebels whit no organisation and low technology. France dosnt have doctrines, numbers or even undustrial capasity for a big conventional war, but it dosnt need to since it fights rebels only and is part of NATO so one will attack it soon. I also must add that there isnt many nations and armies that are ready for a conventional war in the world at this moment.
Mali : "OMG France help us we're helpless against terrorism" France helps. Years later : "OMG France leave us right now, we're absolutely capable of defending ourselves" Dudes, with all respect due, you're not
100% Sad this country is now ruled by a military junta, they count on Wagner mercenary company to protect them, they could have asked the French to leave but didn't dare. French president decided to leave this week. All the West African countries which fought to save Mali sanctionned Mali economically and are pulling out. We'll soon see how well the Malian military junta deal with the jihadists.
@@BruneSixtine Oh they didn't asked, they gave the order to french to leave, wich they did. I'm sad that my country became so weak in international relationships, because of shitty gouvernements.
@@mehmetii8527 The French decided to leave. The following day the Malian military junta asked them "to leave immediately". The French answered "no, we'll leave in an orderly fashion, it will take between 4 and 6 months". Sorry Mehmet, the French are still in Mali.
@@mehmetii8527 you're wrong, the Malian junta was refused unconditional support by France because they were no plans for elections in the country so France was organizing a withdrawal of French forces for the country. Which the Malian junta cried about at the UN GA back in september, saying France was abandoning them. After they accepted that France wouldn't support their regime they told France to leave (which they were already doing) to save face. The timeline is clear.
@@mehmetii8527 Mali "ordered" the French to leave after Macron officially decided to leave. That was for the colonels a pitiful way to not lose face in front of its people, so they can pretend they kicked out the French but they didn't. And when the junta ordered the French forces to leave Mali immediately, Macron said nope and that they will take the time they need to remove their troops safely, dismantle their bases and move their equipment to Niger.
And because Brazil has absolutely no rights on French Guyana and its people. They could have asked their independence as for the other two guyanas but they have chosen to stay French
The French have centuries of experience on expeditionary warfare in low infrastructure and difficult environments. Probably the best in the world in things like these.
Well as a French. I do recognize the level of our British neighbors too. But it is right that the empire history of our two states explains a lot as rapid interventions is part of our military forces for a long time
Agree with you but you will descover that many people mainly from Algeria, are so mad about France historical dominance, that they are creating since the independent, a ferry tail about how France was an horrible incompetent monster and how your military tradition is weak. And this stupidity is spreading like shit in all uneducated mind... Interesting to compare and understand how the former countries of Indochina became what they are nowdays, regarding how Algeria/Africa became.
There was once we were doing patrol outside Timbuktu, suddenly we saw there was a military khaki green bag on the top of a tree with what looked like a wire attached to something. As sapper unit we were requested to figure out what was that: after 30mins work, we were pretty sure nothing special and we took down that bag, it was empty. On our way back we wondered why would anyone hide an empty military bag on a tree? only later do we realize it could be a bad lucked paratrooper who jumped into TBU 5yrs ago.
@@janbo8331 by the time we were there, our job was to maintain military presence and carry routine patrols. So we stayed there, going out and getting back every other day. More of police than what in this video showed a rapid advancing war. We have a lot of time can waste but not enough man to risk
@@janbo8331 here i will give more details of how an empty harmless bag took us 30mins, first the infantry made such requests as they should ( it could be an IED who knows), but to start investigating a 100meter perimeter must established, that setting up took time. The real investigation was quick, using binocular watch it from 10meters and we already know it wasn't a weapon. But since we were already there, so we still checked the surrounding of that tree with metal detector too, that took another 10min. Then in the end we reported said it was no danger, but convoy commander prefer we actually hands on that bag, totally legitimate order, but we were equipped with helmet and body armor, climbing that tree was also tricky.
@@xiaoc.4117 Thanks, that was interesting. In case I gave the wrong impression, I wasn't criticizing the conduct or operations of your unit. Just that, if the strategy of the opponent is to make it a prolonged low-intensity conflict with the purpose of wasting the opponent's resources, tricks such as those empty bags seem like a legitimate tactic.
Another banger of a video Battle Order! The one thing that struck me was the threat to turn the conflict into "France's Afghanistan," juxtaposed against the heavy support of the Malian and ECOWAS troop deployments. As a companion video, I'd be interested in seeing how the local and ECOWAS formations worked, their strategic limitations, and the battles they fought. It'd be cool to hear about their capabilities/actions
@@kurousagi8155 considering the tribal state of Nigeria which is near implosion like Ethiopia I am a bit skeptical. They are Africa's richest country due to oil revenues which allows the purchase of entry level military tech but little national cohesion, this adversely trickles down into low military cohesion and morale. I mean they have lost control of huge parts of the country to Boko Haram! Military kit < Morale and cohesion. Chad has little in advanced military kit but they are tough warriors that rarely rout and have excellent tactics, and can stomach casualties. Amazing will to fight! Actually I think Rwanda takes spot number 3 for subsahran african armies, good cohesion to the point they are doing power projection in the Mozambique conflict.
@@Frencho9 the Nigerians did well in Sierra Leone a while back. I’d definitely accept Rwanda as one of the best trained Sub-Saharan armies. I’d rate Uganda rather highly as well.
@@kurousagi8155 Yes but that was 20 years ago. Sadly in the meantime Nigerian capabilities have fallen low. Meanwhile Rwanda intervene in both congo wars, minusma and another bunch of military ops non stop since 1999. And Rwanda is safe and stable country without internal insurgents.
This was a lot of simultaneous components that it makes you at least marvel at the logistics behind it. Getting together all these units already in Africa and then just rapidly deploying masterfully. Very impressive.
"We're in Mali and we're staying, but not under just any conditions," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters at an EU foreign ministers meeting last week. some of France's European partners have been more explicit, with German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht saying Berlin could transfer its military mission in Mali to another country. "The safety of our soldiers is my first priority," she stressed. germany has around 1,500 soldiers in Mali as part of the United Nations' MINUSMA peacekeeping mission and the EU's mission to train Malian soldiers. sweden, which has 300 troops in Mali, said it was also concerned by the situation.
We should leave ffs. They don't want us, and I don't want to see any European dying for a country that hate us. If they want to be an Islamist caliphate with ethnic genocide and mass oppression, its their choice. No European should die for this.
@@chrismath149 the Russians have just taken over Mali and Sponsoured a Coup in Burkina Faso. Well not the Russians officially The Wagner PMC. SHocking just how many Russian Flags you can get in Mali all of a sudden to wave in front of the camera Let the Russians enjoy the neverending war. Let's see how long until the locals turn against them like they did the French. Just last month the Russians slaughtered 70 civilians in Aïgbado in the CAR.
@@cjthebeesknees Then go to Mali and join the religious extremist (Ansar Dine) or the ethnonationalist militias (MNLA) . Don't be too shy about crime against humanity tho, and prepare to treat local minorities as piece of meat. Maybe France neo colonialism is not great, but only a fool or an Europhobic would prefer a Mali ruled by Ansar Dine.
I remember learning about this conflict in high school. What France was able to do is pretty damn impressive when you take into account just how large the region is.
@@AlexDerange Doesn't that make the whole thing even more impressive, especially in terms of logistics required to sustain the operation? The point you made is actually merely reinforcing his. I mean it is a vast, arid, sparsely populated territory with not much infrastructure or vital ressources (shelter, food, water) beyond some densely populated areas such as Gao or Timbuktu regions and ridiculous gigantic mountains to easily hide into in the north. That's a logistical nightmare. And very few places on the planet if any reach that level of heat. The northern part of the country where the final battle took place was the "Adrar des Ifoghas" (that's what I got when I googled "Ifoghas mountains" as I was intrigued by the rocks shown in the video) and having taken a look at a few pictures I for sure wouldn't want to fight there lmao.
Thanks for the informative video. I also like the visual animated conflicts on some bits, it’s quite creative. Earned a subscription, and props to the French and everybody who supported them.
Wow considering how large the region is the climate the terrain and just how far away mainland france is from mali to do this operation this quickly and succesfuly is mind blowing well done France 🇨🇵
@@carkawalakhatulistiwa do you know the difference between s e x and r@pe? When Mali invited France in 2013 and france is leaving when Mali asks it was consensual when Russia invaded Ukraine it's not consensual it's very simple really. I hope you can understand.
Recent two decades gave me the clear picture of "Terrorists" as those who bring terror on civilians. Im looking at you Russia , China, Turkey, North Korea.
15:25 I like that you added this in there. The general sounded proud like Patton. Always moving forward never-stopping. Push, then push faster. Really great video. I had zero clue about this operation.
Just getting a task force organized by "pulling straws" from other groups in an area and having them be effective on such a short timeframe is truly an accomplishment in itself.
As an french military veteran i want to say thank you for this great video and for the awesome explanations. The quality is impressive. Ps: it's also nice to hear different things than the regular "french white flag surrender" jokes. The French Army is very efficient. Anyway, excellent Job !
the internet puts me into the "francophile pipeline" (which means i am slowly but steadily getting interested into their achievements throughout history), *oh no...*
Great Job of the French army and his Foreign Legión, excelente Job of Battle order, this vídeo is a Masterpiece of military knowledge. I love it Greeting from Colombia south América🤗♥️🎆
I am impress that a foreign channel could make such a precise video about what happen during this campaign. It's becoming such a rare thing on youtube. Congratulation for your work.
@@Arthur-sf1go yeah, but I'm disappointed. They replace a scout tank destroyer ( amx's role before) by an infantry fighting vehicle and scout. The cannon goes from 105mm to 40mm, so yeah. It is cool looking, but not as beautiful and powerful as the 10rc
I must say, I had no idea how good the French army is. Alot reminds me of the "Kampfgruppen" Konzept of WW2. The flexibility and the ability of France to organize and bring troops, is impressive.
Yes, it is basically the same concept like that of the Wehrmacht Kampfgruppe which are nowadays called task force, battle group, tactical battle group etc. These are adhoc units, usually in battalion size, which compose of various attached elements of mixed types (inf, tanks, recon, arty, sappers, SOPs etc) to enable them act independently on their task. It is basically the idea to put in use the theory of combined weapons usage in small unit level.
Came home from Mali last week, SWECON / MINUSMA. We drove over the Wabaria bridge a couple of times during operations. Interesting to hear about the battle to take the bridge! And the "toll" pillars on the west bank, just before you enter the town, still bears the marks of the battle. Great and informative video!
Iraq, military operation "Dage" (Desert Storm) and the capture of Al-Salman airport. “Few people know that at the end of the first day of the assault, after a fantastic breakthrough, the French troops were in the very north, in the very west. These were the ones who infiltrated Iraq the most. They successfully completed the tasks assigned to them in a huge way. ". - General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander-in-chief of the allied forces during Desert Storm.
Meh, truth is, Schwarzkopf was mad about the French (and the US 82 Airbone on their right) being too slow. Honestly, they were not, and he blamed almost everyone to be too slow, it was just Schwarzkopf not realizing how much time it take time to clear fortified position.
The 96 AMX-10 RCs were the most numerically important armored component of the 6th Light Armored Division. The division covered the left flank of the invasion force, protecting the Coalition forces against an enemy counter-attack. During the attack, also named Operation Daguet, the French forces clashed with the Iraqi 45th Infantry Division, which was defeated. The French also captured the As-Salman airfield. The results of the fighting are impressive. Almost 3000 Iraqis were captured, with twenty enemy tanks being destroyed and two captured. Multiple other light vehicles and artillery pieces were destroyed or captured. The French didn’t lose a single vehicle, and no losses were suffered due to enemy action.
France invented the tactics of Blitzkrieg after ww1, the old senile ww1 generals preferred to build the Maginot line and hope that the british would hold their ground for once and not retreat in land of France. We all know how it went...
2 ปีที่แล้ว +24
@@ommsterlitz1805 France's bulk of mobile troops were encircled around Dunkirk, not around the Maginot. The "old senile ww1 generals" knew very well the germans were going to pass in belgium, the problem is that they expected the german tanks to pass in the flatter areas, not the Ardennes
Fun fact : Charles de Gaulle actually theorized the Blitzkrieg, no one decided to believe him in France but one german dude read his book, this man was Heinz Guderian.
@ they expected the germans to attack through the ardennes, its the general in charge of it that did not warn the high command of the danger and completely fucked his soldiers's defence
Lower maintenance on the wheeled vehicles is something a lot of militaries should’ve taken note of, tracked vehicles have their place but not everything needs to be on a set of tracks, especially when you are fighting a fast paced mounted assault, the Marines in 2003 riding on the AAVs in the desert moving into Iraq constantly broke down
The French AMX 10 RC's (wheeled vehicles) during operation Desert Storm: The 96 AMX-10 RCs were the most numerically important armored component of the 6th Light Armored Division. The division covered the left flank of the invasion force, protecting the Coalition forces against an enemy counter-attack. During the attack, also named Operation Daguet, the French forces clashed with the Iraqi 45th Infantry Division, which was defeated. The French also captured the As-Salman airfield. The results of the fighting are impressive. Almost 3000 Iraqis were captured, with twenty enemy tanks being destroyed and two captured. Multiple other light vehicles and artillery pieces were destroyed or captured. The French didn’t lose a single vehicle, and no losses were suffered due to enemy action.
Holy mother of maneuvers! Incredible that you managed to keep track of all of those movements in such a moderately mediatized conflict. It was all over the place haha. Great vid!
This was VERY interesting, thank you very much for such a high quality content. Maybe you could do a piece like this one about the Russian intervention in Syria in 2015.
They are the most succesful military power in history after all. Even in the events in which they lost, the average French soldier hold their ground and fought until the end.
This looks very very similar to the "Plan Challes" during the Algerian war, thanks to lightening warfare based on helicopter mobility, the French army cleared 60% of the Wilayas in several month, after that they were no longer in position to oppose a military threat.
@@novus1589 The blitzkrieg was imagine by DeGaulle, it was originally a french doctrine. And Napoléon was well known for moving his armies fast, conquering Prussia and reaching Berlin in 2 weeks by foot. The french army have always loved speed.
Outside of WW2. The French are not known to be pushovers. WW1, Algeria, etc....the French move with speed and efficiency to accomplish their goals. It's impressive to learn about.
In fact, it could be said that part of the reason WWI was so bloody and WWII was a loss for France early on was the lack of manoeuvre warfare. WWI was almost entirely a war of attrition on the Western Front, and French high command subsequently abandoned war of movement for a more reactive posture (no seperate tank entities, as tanks in WW1 were never used as a force independent of infantry, the Maginot). France previous to WW1 was always about movement, and it seems as if France has regained its expertise in command organisation and high mobility warfare.
Great video. A small QoL request for the following ones: it's hard to keep track of the dates and to measure how time goes, and I think a running timeline on one side of the screen could help with that. Great job anyways!
As a german dude I have to say, when sh*t goes hot here in Europe, I am glad France is right behind us. The more I get to know the french army and history, the more I admire them.
@@Solaris_Paradox Yet in WW1 the French military stopped the Germans dead in their tracks eventually defeating the German Empire. Or how about the Napoleonic wars when France took on most of Europe and won only being defeated when Napoleon made mistakes with age.
did you not hear of Napoleon? France is the country that has won the most wars in the world. only americans make fun of the french and it's such a shame
@@vd12 mexicans also because they won a battle lol France was fighting all around the world at that time but mexicans think they've beaten Napoleon lol
Well ,actually there is a French regiment named "Régiment de marche du Tchad" March Regiment of Tchad (I don't know who to translate Marche except by "March" or "Walk" 😅😆)
@@Masterafro999 Yes it took is name of the former colonial troop based in Tchad It's a regiment who fought during WW2 especially in North Africa (1941-1943) and then participate in the liberation campaign of France in 1944 until the final victory of France alongside the Allies
impressive the speed of reaction of the French, organizing all this and the military actions in parallel is really a challenge! as a former soldier I have immense respect for the mission carried out on a territory 4 times the size of France, a real feat. just amazing....god!
Wow! Good job France for winning against weak unorganized rebels with barely any technology! Wow so strong!!! They definitely won't fold and surrender when fighting against an actual strong military
I used to visit Mali regularly in late ‘90s, early 2000’s - they kicked zero ass. It was a small scale Afghanistan for France. Mali is less safe now than it’s been in decades. What a bunch of gullible gits! Seriously. Edit: Mali was a safe country. A very welcoming and safe country. AQM beat France out. They’re still there. Where are the French?Fkn Russian mercs are doing a better job. Seriously perturbed by your comment 🤷🏻♂️
@@zangrygrapes4571 I got censored. Again here Edit: repost original comment: I used to visit Mali regularly in late ‘90s, early 2000’s - they kicked zero ass. It was a small scale Afghanistan for France. Mali is less safe now than it’s been in decades. What a bunch of gullible gits! Seriously. Edit: Mali was a safe country. A very welcoming and safe country. AQM beat France out. They’re still there. Where are the French?Fkn Russian mercs are doing a better job. Seriously perturbed by your comment 🤷🏻♂️
Sadly, the AMX-10RC and ERC-90 (with respectively 105mm and 90mm guns) are being replaced. They're relics from the Cold War and the high mobility, flanking cavalry doctrine the French had at the time. They're being replaced by the EBRC Jaguar, equipped with a modern 40mm gun, and ATGMs.
Great work breaking these conflicts down, you can see just from the coordination alone that these battle groups are well trained for this arena. Any quick paced conflict in Central Africa would be a hell of a stalemate if troops get bogged down in that terrain.
It was a very light group. It had no tanks, and, as was stated here, very little artillery. But it made up for it in extreme mobility, both due to its lack of heavy weapons and its air support. And the fact that they could deploy so quickly is impressive.
note the way their self-propelled Howtizers are built: very light (they can be air dropped), 6x6 awd, very fast (100 km/h), long range (up to 45-50 km), and extremely accurate. No need to waste much ammo.
@@hermes6910 Tanks have other uses than fighting enemy tanks, though you are right that this often a task they are deployed for. Among other things, they tend to be the spearpoint of many modern armies, punching holes in the enemy line which can be exploited by follow-up forces. They can also be useful as support for lighter units, if they run into something that requires more punching power than what they themselves have.
Correction: Typo at 11:17 ; icon says 1er REP is meant to be 2e REP
A graphic showing the entire detailed organization of the Serval Brigade from 17 February to mid-April 2013 can be found here: www.battleorder.org/fr-orbat
11:28 1er REP?
@@АлексКраснов-ш7б well, you know algers isnt far from mali after all...
@@gabrielputz5851 :)
Really enjoy your content was wondering if you could do a rundown of the Danish Light Infantry. They were created after "lessons learned" in Afghanistan but are still pretty new in a Danish context and I feel in modern day people mainly talk about regular infantry, motor/mec or spec ops. Either way it's hard to find modern military channels that aren't super dry but your way of presenting stuff makes it easy to understand for a guy like me.
@@bernard8793 What is he even rambling about? lol. Please, get your whiny shit out of here. The guy made a purely tactical video about a military operation that ended 8 years ago. Because that's what his channel does. He's not a geopolitical analyst. Armed forces, their organization, weapons, tactics, historical battles... that's what we're about here. Now to address your comment:
Indeed, the marriage deal is extremely odd and it is an interesting point to raise but your latter points just reeks of ideology. You know... the typical pseudo-anti-colonialist lad who spends his time spewing horseshit about something he is actually not much knowledgeable about....
"France has been meddling with Malian affairs for over 200 years"... Yeah, which is France had no involvement whatsoever in Mali until the very late 19th century and colonial rule over French Sudan was secured around 1905?!
And Libya was certainly not embroiled in a civil war before the west got involved, right? France obviously started the Libyan Civil War. The Egyptian crisis was also France's fault and the Tunisian one too. The Maghreb was perfectly stable and nothing called the Arab Spring was occuring before Sarkozy saw an opportunity to have France militarily support the rebellion to cover his corruption. You even managed the good ol' bullshit about the FCFA as all ignorant dumbasses do. The FCFA is forced on French colonies? What happened to Guinea when it decided to leave it? Tell us. Having your currency tied to the French Franc, then later to the Euro... which were/are both among the most stable currencies in the world sure necessitated forcing them? Which is why countries that have never been French colonies such as Nigeria (the largest economy in the region and by far the most populous country in west Africa), Ghana, Cape Verde, Liberia, Gambia and Sierra Leone have chosen to be part of ECOWAS. Were they French colonies? Not British or Portuguese? Were they also forced by France?
I am even surprised you stopped there with the claims. Where is the classic "eViL fRaNcE fOrCiNg AfRiCaN cOuNtRiEs tO pAy a CoLoNiAl TaX"? I am disappointed. Oh or may be that was you were hinting at with the FCFA?!
Edit: Just noticed this now appears like strange rambling but I was replying to a certain Bernard below in the thread whose first comment was an entire dissertation full of horseshit and who has bravely deleted it since then.
This conflict really is a masterclass in logistics and the title of the video describing it as a "lightning war" is not at all clickbait. 6 weeks of constant mobile combat across 3,000 miles is absolutely insane. That's like driving from Miami to Seattle while constantly having someone shoot at you every time you stop for gas.
So, detroit?
@@theslungus1000 they are less heavily armed in Mali
@@Trubbl3 Battle Order was more focused on the operation itself and didn't go into more details in the introduction but those fuckers were blessed by the goldmine (or the mess in our case) we made out of Libya... most of their weapons are supplied from there. There was a documentary a few years ago about the origins of the Islamists groups and their networks, how they are supplied and the implications of some states (Qatar being the biggest culprit) in the whole process. I wouldn't call that "less heavily armed". Let me guess... you went with "Mali = Black Africa, Black Africa = poorer than poor, so Mali = more backward than primitive weaponry" hahahaha. The secessionist Tuareg community as a whole that rebelled against the Malian government was not that well-armed but they're not the ones the French actually mainly thought and are still fighting there. Their movement got hijacked by AQMI and its offshoots. AQMI is an Algerian faction. The likes of Droukdel and his buddies had a search warrant on them since the 1990s for their war crimes in the Algerian Civil War and involvement in the GSPC and GIA, before they were killed by the French. They weren't random secessionists or even Malians, but actual seasoned high-profile Islamists.
The French didn't have much issues with the Tuaregs as a whole because they are secular and only had grievances with the government, which obviously was none of France problem as it didn't want to meddle in that aspect. Most Tuaregs obviously didn't belong to Islamist groups and weren't radicals. The actual extremists were a minority and their peers are from all over the Sahel and North Africa, they are not national groups. AQMI is mostly made up of Algerians, Morrocans and people from the Saharan communities (which include the some Tuaregs and Berabiche tribal clans of Mali for example).
@@Itachi951000 do not compare french logistics weaponry armour, vehicles and tech to solely infantry ak wielding fighters in mali, the french should have seized every inch of the enemy territory with their modern equipment but still managed to fail and allow the insurgency to recover gain power and support and overwhelm them
@@Bellasrius You thought I was saying that AQIM was as well equipped as the French military? lmao. I was merely saying they were as well armed as the major Islamist groups in the middle-east the west has fought the last two decades. And that's exactly the whole point of counter-insurgency warfare, Einstein: lesser equipped guerillas being able to survive against superior professional militaries.
When the war was still fairly conventional, France made easy work of the enemy. That was not unexpected. It wouldn't be considered a top military if it failed at doing that. The issue here is that the war turned into a huge mess when it became a counter-insurgency focused conflict from one end of Africa to the other. Operation Serval was solely in Mali, a country 3 to 4 times the size of mainland France. Its successor, Operation Barkhane, became even more ridiculous as it encompassed Mauritania, Mali, Burkina-Faso, Niger and Chad. Take a look at their size on a map. The insurgency spreading is notably due to ISIS trying to expand in the Greater Sahara after their shortcomings in the middle-east and all these new offshoot groups that weren't there a decade ago seeing light, not just in the Sahel but as far as southern Africa as you know. For France, it became like trying to pacify Europe from Portugal to Moscow with 5,200 men (which is what France's peak strength during the entire thing was and why it started asking for more assistance from other European countries and the US). The UN mission (MINUSMA) is obviously not there for combat and to hunt down the Jihadist groups with the French and only has a presence in Mali. They are there to keep watch and protect the population/patrol. The EU mission is solely a training mission and the Task Force Takuba, based in Mali, was only recently created. It is only made up of a few hundreds special forces from France and some EU countries and didn't even get to be fully operational as we're all now leaving Mali.
Tell us, strategic genius! How easy is it to win such wars? Give us an example of who has been winning them. I'm waiting. Winning asymetrical wars is impossible unless you level up the place for real and don't care about the population, and even when you care like right now, collateral damages still occasionally happen. France is there to fight AQIM, IS-GS and the affiliated groups, not to kill random Malians, Mauritanians or Chadians in the process.
For reference Mali is roughly the size of the Iberian peninsula, France, Benelux and Switzerland combined. And the Sahel region the size of Europe from Portugal to Moscow or the contiguous USA. It's a HUGE operational theater, larger than Irak or Afghanistan!
And yet people think we can cover this huge theater.
@@Klliansimabras GTIA 3 pulled a 5000 Km uninterrupted Thunder Run. They basically crossed the Atlantic Ocean! People make fun of our wheelies but you can't pull that off with tracked vehicles without stopping to change tracks every 500kms or so!
At this rate we should of just paid France to fight the Taliban.
@@risingmoon893 Lol no way.
@@Frencho9 Error in my comments. I wrote can't but i wanted to write can.
It’s always important to remember that WW2 is something of an exception in France’s otherwise exceedingly impressive military history.
Yeah, and even then, it was an insane compilation of bad luck, incompetence of the top, and miscommunication/bad doctrine technology...
Like, the more I learned about what actually happened, the more I went "you cannot even make this shit up"
(reality being stranger than fiction)
false
@@g3koot100 and ww1
the french got their asses whop'd by the vietnamese rice farmers who wanted their independence. After they got their asses whop'd so bad they called the americans to help them.
Are you taking the p*ss ?
"Amateurs study tactics; professionals study logistics.” - Omar N. Bradley
Aka Virgin French Surrender memer vs Chad modern French military.
Real strategists study both.
@@vnolan633 very chad
I’ve always been so interested in troop movement in cities. Can you imagine the logistics involved to take a city like Kyiv, block by block?
@@joeyyc8515 You have to be very methodical basically; take a block, secure it, bring ammo and troops up and then move to the next block, then to the next neighborhood etc
‘What’s our order of battle sir? Yes’ absolute masterpiece of a video and a masterpiece of planning by the French
The French foreign legion.
@@centurymemes1208 Battle Order went out of its way to mention throughout the video nearly all the regiments deployed and how the French army operates and you still managed to miss it? How many times did you hear the words "Marine" or "RIMa" compared to "Foreign" here for example? And did you notice "Foreign" being mentioned anymore than "Chasseurs", "Hussars", "Engineer", "Artillery" or (regular) "Infantry" regiments?
What he did is a welcomed surprise as those not too familiar with the French military borderline speak as if the Legion was all there was to it and that France wouldn't have one of the best trained, experienced and fully professional militaries around if it were to get rid of its tradition of having a specific corps of its land force opened to foreigners 😂.
The French Foreign Legion is an integral part of the French army and also only represents a tiny part of it as clearly shown in the video. It isn't an independent corps regardless of symbolic pledges to honor history/tradition. Elements of the FFL regiments and elements drawn from the much more numerous standard French regiments are deployed together. The various units get mixed to form cohesive tactical groups.
They all operate under the same high-command.... because again, it is the French Armed Forces, nothing more, nothing less. You'll be surprised to learn that the overwhelming majority of people serving in the French military are French (shocking, I know) and that ALL generals and officers are also French (yes, even those of the Legion). In other words... In case you still don't get it.... It is a French operation.... planned by the French.
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
Yeah they kick arse against third world peasants
@@wozza77able funny thing is third world peasants CAN actually kick first world and second world asses.
Unless your living situation resembles that of third world conditions, you can't kick ass.
@@Itachi951000 no i wasn’t referring to this video or any comment i just mentioned french foreign legion cuz it sounds cool.
The initial Gazelle run was super risky and could easily have been a disaster. Incredibly brave of those to undertake that mission in such light aircraft against what would have been an unknown force strength and composition with insufficient time to prepare.
But it was necessary for French forces to determine the tempo of the conflict, by breaking the enemy advance and making them retreat the French dictated the pace of the conflict into the one they wanted.
If the insurgents kept going it would have been more difficult on the French forces since they would not have been as able to stablish they C&C network and logistics, making the enemy retreat meant that it gave French forces breathing time to gather and get ready for offensive operations
The pilot of the first Gazelle that crashed was from my hometown, he didn't survive the crash unfortunately but he contributed greatly to the effort to push back the insurgents who committed atrocities everywhere they went. Sacrifices have to be made in these types of missions.
@@ilo3456 Absolutely necessary to intervene to blunt the rapid advance though it was still exceptionally risky to use Gazelles on an armed convoy ground attack though you always work with the assets you have in theatre. The incredible skill and daring of those pilots and crew ensured a successful mission.
This episode reminded me of the loss of I think two armed gazell helicopters on the day of the San Carlos landing in the 1982 Falklands war. After that incident the gazells present were no longer used in an armed escort role.
@ For most of NATO forces, France use them aggressively (and mostly successfully) in ground attack roles in African operations where they favour mobility over survivability.
I'd imagine if they had some of their Eurocopter tigers or Ground Attack/Multirole Jets in theatre for rapid deployment they would have used those instead.
WW2 stained the French military's reputation, but before WW2 and since the Cold War, France actually has developed a very powerful and advanced military force which among the strongest in the world. I for one am incredibly grateful having France as an ally in NATO. Vive la France!
I don't know where you are from but I am also grateful having you as an ally. Vive wherever you are from
Britain was out of WWII game up until 1944... geography saved them and the sacrifice of the French Army that allowed Dunkirk to be accomplished
"WW2 stained the French military's reputation". Everyone forgets that France _won_ WW2. Yes, they lost the battle of France (so did the UK), but that wasn't the end of the war.
@@TheMrcassina Britain hasn't got that great of a land army because it always used its control of the sea more
It's an island, you cannot just swim there and hope to be effective in conquering it
Were they not an island history would be much different
Ummm you do realise France isn't part of the NATO force. They left in the early 50s because they couldn't lead the military force instead of America. Funnily enough that's why Macron is a huge advocate for an EU combined military force.
Amazing how people don't know this fact.
My cousin fought in this war with several other Swedish forces. It was several years ago. Hes currently retired from the army and suffers from PTSD after an IED blew up their convoy followed by an ambush. Several of his friends died in the attack. I pray for those still fighting in Mali.
I remember when we flew to Mali we stopped in Stockholm and picked up Swedish soldiers as well but we diverged in Bamako, idk where they went but we went to Gao.
I don't think the Swedes were there for Operation Serval, were they? IIRC the 150 men Sweden sent to support France took part in the subsequent counter-insurgency operation (Barkhane).
French foreign legion going there? If not i might just buy a ticket to defend mali from the french
@@ASH12B Are you aware of how dumb you sound considering the video you're commenting on? Whether it is the Legion or the other French corps, you won't do shit lmao.
@@Itachi951000 they did the Swed had send around 200 man for operation Minusma
Sometimes a smaller more mobile force is better than a large slow moving one. A great Operation by the French. Well done France from the UK.
Thanks brother🇫🇷🤝🇬🇧
@Bullett-Tooth Tony. Thanks for this warm comment. Soon enough, it might be that we'll be fighting alongside each other against the new tyrant from Eastern Europe. I cite no-one, just follow my stance!
You helped a lot with your chinooks. Thx GB for that
a Briton complementing us ? Philippe ! Sabre le champagne, le jour est arrivé !
@@cebonvieuxjack You were our greatest rival ever for 1000 years, and as much as our nations lock horns with each other we are allies in this day and age. Even old enemies can show respect.
France was able to accomplish its military goals fairly quickly and effectively but like every time in modern warfare, the occupation and stabilization missions were borked from the beginning
at least they knew the importance to get local troops involved from the beginning. At nearly every step they were accompanied by african troops when entering cities, showing that there does not come a white colonist army but also lots of african soldiers for an african people and this were the soldiers that stayed mostly (i know, subsaharan and arabic are not the same, but they learned from afghanistan)
occupation ? If they didn't want us they will tell us to leave but even the military junta didn't ask us to leave. They even accuse us to abandon them in UN.
Unfortunately, modern sensibilities and government interference prevents the measures which need to be taken for a stable outcome after an invasion.
Yeah in part it looks like from this video they forgot about the army completely... Like how is a highly mobile force suposed to defnd a city? Which unlike the US which could have defnded South Vietnam and Afgastan forever the French unless they brought the army in recnt imes(This is my first time hearing of this conflict at all.) I doubt they could hold any land.
@@GreenBlueWalkthrough It's not our job to hold any land.
The logistics of these operations is impressive as heck!
Just to keep upp with fuel demand must have been a nightmare.
Lucky they had British aircraft to help because they had zero heavy lift capabilities
@@MrTangolizard and that makes it less impressive how?
@@ognjenbegicevic6298 because without it they wouldn’t have been able to do it
@@MrTangolizard 30% isn't 100%, and then the goal of France has never been to be the only one to fight in Africa. Actually, the more international the operation was the more successful our operation would have been.
@@MrTangolizard France relies more on Ukranian and Russian private contractors for heavy lift via Antonovs than the UK to be honest. And the heavy lift was not primordial as A) you need a proper international airport with a huge runway to land a C17 or Antonov . A rarity in the Sahel region B) all the French kit that was deployed during Serval can fit in a A400M Atlas, Transall or Hercules. AMX-10C, VBCI, CAESAR, VAB, Sagaie, all fit in those tactical lift planes! Heavy lift just allows you to fit a couple of these vehicles per plane instead of a single one per plane. As we did not deploy the 52 ton Leclerc tank, not necessary. TLDR, heavy lift was a welcomed luxury but not indispensable for Opération Serval.
France leaves: three months later headline like: 'Moura massacre: the explosive UN report', 'Mali junta announces two-year delay until democratic rule' 'Over 500 killed in Mali clashes as military junta loses grip' really makes you realise just how much Mali depended on the French to keep the peace and to maintain ethics in the military.
Absolument merci de le rappeler
Absolutely thank you for reminding
Yeah well we have other things to do than spend our money on military operations thousands of kilometers away. For securing a cheap supply of uranium, why not, but if there's nothing for us, we'll just leave, fuck spending money we don't even have
Radical Islam rots everything it touches.
@@jeanladoire4141 Et encore.
L'Uranium c'est au Niger , pas au Mali.
C'était surtout pour éviter la contagion aux pays voisins.
Et encore on est entrain de se retirer de l'Uranium au Niger justement.
@@jeanladoire4141 Oui mais on peut pas laisser un califat et un daesh 2.0 s'installer ça ne sera pas bon pour nous au final non plus
It’s funny how people are so suprised at this.
France has one of the most advanced and best trained military forces in the world.
Just because of some ww2 stereotypes (which are not even true) people think the French military is lazy, chaotic and “always run away”.
Anyone who starts war with France these days should really rethink that decision…
¿Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh?, ¿Mexico?, ¿España?, ¿Rusia?.
@@WECR everyone lost in Vietnam. They won against Mexico, they just weren’t able to maintain control. The peninsular war in Spain was a guerilla war, not a conventional one. No one successfully invaded Russia since the Mongol empire.
@@mrworldwide7387 those are still loses in Mexico and Spain
@@mrbrainbob5320 they would’ve probably won in Spain if they weren’t distracted by the invasion of Russia and if Britain and Portugal didn’t reinforce the Spanish.
As for Mexico, the invasion was a success but the peoples that stayed in Mexico to maintain control of the country weren’t able to.
@@mrworldwide7387 lmaooo that's literally what happened in Afghanistan and Vietnam not really an excuse. They gave up and went home still a lost
As a French I am really happy that you went over this conflict, it is mainly misinterpreted and people get easily misinformed about it
As a French I aslo fill super disappointed regarding the lack of gratitude and respect for the fact that for 9 years French soldiers fought and 53 of them die for the security/prosperity of these people.
They would have been the most retarded Kalifa in the world, there is nothing in Mali...
Germany will be in paris in 7 days.
@@eliasziad7864 yeah, to support france since we are allies and all that
@@TheMasterOfCornedy Alsace Lorraine is German.
@@eliasziad7864 Imperial Germany and Nazi Germany lost both world wars, France won both of them
A veteran of Serval told me that on the radio and phone cellular taps : they sometimes heard the jihadist leaders treat the French as "rabid dogs who never let go of their prey" in Arab language..
To date, the toll of Islamists from various factions killed by the French is 3,000, , according to the body count carried out, for 53 French soldiers killed, half of them in accidents. A nice little ratio that gives combat effectiveness.
So...A small thought for these 53 citizens, including 1 woman.
Organised, highly trained professional soldiers are almost always superior to conscripts. Who in turn are almost always superior to militias. When you add in total air supremecy it's totally lopsided.
There is a reason the US replaced their militias with the state national guards, they simply aren't as effective in modern war.
It's not a European vs non as well. The Canadian military utterly defeated the Croatian mixed soldiers-militia forces in the single time they fought in Former Yugoslavia. First World western militaries have time to train and train, while militias often win by the enemies moral failing them.
Can you guys stop self congratulations and just admit for a second that the insurgents / terrorists has no state backing or wealthy patrons and all the surrounding nations are squeezing them and France is a part and leader of this alliance.
Because the french are some type of angels that came from the sky to help humanity right?,any country that the baguette eaters have touched crumbled,my country tunisia can't even build a highway or decide the prices of their own resources without consent from france.They called everybody that went against their colonialism terrorist while the terrorists were them.What would you call somebody that came from overseas to eliminate your leaders,install a puppet regime and leave?
Condition is so bad that one African village tried to protest French presence, France dispatched fighter jets to disperse the unarmed protestors. Had their been any civilian casualties they'd have been labelled "terrorists ".
@@zaiedchaalali1939 Are you living in the 1950's ? If the Tunisian government can't build a highway, maybe stop electing terrible leaders. Didn't you have a revolution in 2011 ? Stop blaming a country that you gained independance from more than 60 years ago.
Absolute madlads. Mad respect from the Netherlands to France for being assertive and confident.
Of course they do: people are mostly stupid
What a fool
@@Allytheshorttt In what ?
"We know a thing or two cause we've seen a thing or two"- French commanders on waging lightning war
I was going to make this comment, but you beat me to it :)
NGL, that made me chuckle.
ww2 moment
Spotted the american.....
Actually the french pretty much created lightning warfare. Especially during the Napoleonic wars.
They just fucked up during WW2 era but it doesn’t change the fact that they fought back and they came back to their mainland not even 4 years after the battle of France ( helped of course but still)
One thing I greatly respects of African Union is their solidarity and trust to send military force to resolve each other's instability. I am sure it is not without it's limitations, critics, and issues, however in the era of nation states, this is truly a remarkable innovation and commitment.
Yes, I noticed ECOMOG is now replaced by ECOWAS, presumably due to their horrendous reputation gained in conflicts like Sierra Leone, where they were summarily executing and extorting the local population, and of course, turning and running at the first sign of trouble
@@BootneckAlphaKilo Well, to be fair, early UN Peacekeeping missions has their failing too. Peacekeeper deploymet is a whole study by itself. The systems seems work well for African countries so far, otherwise they'd stopped doing it a long time ago.
well its in theyr own interest to not to allow establishment of extremist islamic "state" right next to theyr own, these extremists are threat to all of them so it makes sense for them to cooperate.
@@Rvoid no. It works because aside from rare interventions from former colonial powers (UK Belgium France etc) they have no choice. Comparing UN peacekeepers to ECOMOG/ECOWAS is ridiculous
Worked twice with them (both in Mali and CRA the next year) they still have a long way to go to be an effective military tool for local stability and sovereignity. But definitely a very good step forward to assure their full independance against the former colonial powers.
I was in the GTIA2, 4th Company. You can see some of my brothers in arm from the 1st company at 2:44 with whom I went to an other mission the next year, in the same platoon.
Easily one of my greatest and proudest achievement.
Edit: By the way, at 2:44 the images are from the SANGARIS mission in CRA, not from Serval. You can see it is written on the badge.
Merci à vous.
Thank you for your service !
*Long live FRANCE 🇫🇷* thank you for your dedication comrade!!
So what exactly did you achieve?
@@tamamatu6395 *go to Africa*
I lived in Niger(country right next to Mali) back when this was happening, and it was crazy to me that so little attention was given to this in Western media.
I'm literally not kidding when I say I've seen convoys of French Tanks and military vehicle, at least 4-5 minutes long at least every week passing through.
Seeing French Fighter Jets was quite a common occurence at one point. And it was all over so fast, you wouldn't realize they'd effectively reduced the power of such a serious threat. I always wondered what the logistics of such a fast war would've been like.
I think the French army still kept pushing in Mali afterwards, because I remember the amount of convoys increase in the latter years. Especially with the rise of other terrorist organizations like Boko Haram
Thanks for covering this.
@@13thdivision70 nice botting
Thanks for your positive imput ! This is becoming rare in the region. France in Africa has made mistakes in the past, and is not perfect, but has improved a lot i think. This operation was a miltary success, thanks also to the neigbors of Mali who also helped and paid with their soldiers lives in some cases. This was also a moral victory. France, an ally, was asked to intervene and did so without asking any favor in return. Of course it had interests in the region, (uranium mines in Niger) but so do all countries. I is sad to see how all have turned out. Ressentment against France, fuelled by the new regime, corruption, and Russia pulling the string in the shadow...
Western media only covers what is beneficial for them. France has a heavy neo-colonial presence in modern Africa. The only reason they got involved here is because they wanted to retain that economical grip on Mali. There was no reason for the media to cover it, because they weren't fighting against another superpower. They didn't need to gather popular support on the world stage, because US and Europe already back them, while Russia and China have no interests there.
@@13thdivision70 I saw a video on your channel. Are you also from the Caucasus?
@@13thdivision70 Anyone who wants to force their ideology onto others is not a freedom fighter.
Very interesting how different the French are organized. They seem optimized for these types of counterinsurgency and low-intensity conflicts. Would like to see a video on the major reformation of the French army that occurred I believe in the early 2000s which decoupled their logistics into its own sub-brance. I believe it was the French Land Forces Component Command concept.
Also, I am very intrigued by airborne engineer platoons. How does a platoon-sized element look like? What is it exactly that they do?
The platoon mentionned in the video isn't actually a unit of its own, like the rest of the force, it was merged into the joint tactical groups for the duration of the mission depending on who was the closest, most ready and in that case, what the needs were. They didn't need to deploy the full 17th Engineers Parachute Regiment, not even a company, so they just took a platoon
@@augustinneel778 Did they have special equipment or were they used as regular infantry?
It sounds like flexibility and preparedness were allowed to meet.
The airborne engineers were deployed piecemeal to clear runways of obstacles initially so aircraft could be landed on them
@@BattleOrder That makes sense. I would imagine they would have some portable mine-clearing equipment then. Thanks for the response.
On a side note: I've always thought long ago, before your channel's existence, that if I ever started a youtube channel, it would be exactly what you guys are doing right now, except your production quality is very next-level than what I would have done. Thanks for all the content. Out of the thousand+ subscriptions, you are one of less than ten that I have the bell notifications for :)
The seeming enormous variety of french units is staggering. Please do a video on them!
@@TheCoolCucumber How do you mean ? In the context of an actual open war ?
@@jenji6658 I think he means more in the context of a conventional conflict.
@@vonblunder Well yes ? An open war then, an actual battle context ?
@@TheCoolCucumber Depending on where it takes place and the context, I do think France could win against Russia. I am no military expert but the russians' logistics are terrible their equipment and tactics don't enable them to fight too far from their borders while French have many assets through the world and are able to project their force anywhere on the globe
@@TheCoolCucumber is Russia a peer opponent?
I knew the French were badass but I don’t know many countries who could get this many men and vehicles in country and working this quick. Not to mention out of those countries who could achieve this I don’t know many who would commit to doing this so quick.
Britain or the US could do it
@@gar50172 yes but not 1 lot more.
@@gar50172 britain can't barely do anything without the US making the first move. COuld barely operate in Lybia 2011
@Ben I'm not sure what you mean by more effective per capita, but the US has done plenty of Operations similar to the one in Mali. Operation Inherent Resolve and Grenada come to mind. The US also has supported South American nations against their freedom fighters and cartels for decades now.
@@gar50172 could do it but would they? As quickly as the French did
Honestly, as a Nigerian, I for one support France's efforts in the Sahel. Simply put: the local governments there are terrible with managing their countries and curtailing islamic extremism and the fallout has been negatively affecting my own country with fulani terrorists and insurgents from Chad, Niger, and Mali causing problems and committing atrocities nd raising insecurity in Nigeria. If France is the only power that can keep them in check, I welcome them.
But what does it cost you to allow the french in ????? The french are obviously not doing it out of the kindness of their hearts !!! You really think the french decided to risk french lives because they love you and are defenders of democracy.....lol....????? If only you had oil, then the USA will also 'help' you !!!!!!
@@supa3ek But we do have oil in Nigeria and we do have security deals with America, though not as extensive as that of Israel and Taiwan. So what are you talking about? ALso, you didn't answer my question. If these local governments cannot keep their countries stable and keep terrorism in check, why should I not support France doing their job? I know France is not altruistic but you think I want more insecurity in my country because Chad, Niger and Mali are too stupid to fix their own?
@@supa3ek Having US and France is better than having radical islamists , ruskies or CCP
@@supa3ek There is no country that is altruistic. When USA joined allies in ww1, it was because France and UK can't reimburse what they owned to america if they lose.
@@leduoanime9156 Exactly. Wilson legitimately believed in the democratic cause, but the bottom line was that the US economy would be in trouble if the Allies lost WWI. People like Danny strawman the US and France and apply a false moral narrative. He probably doesn't apply such moral standards to Russia and China, let alone the Islamists that France is helping to fight.
Thank you very much. I appreciate you covering this. I'd like to take a moment to thank my French brethren for defending all of us.
I am very proud of the French military. Keep France strong, keep the world safe. Respect. Viva la France!
Semper Paratus
The priority given to pursuit through mobility made a major difference in countering the insurgency post stabilization, and it's something i find most conventional military forces to completely ignore which in turn baffles me. By constantly pursuing and putting pressure on the insurgents both strategically and tactically, and prioritizing mobility it prevented the insurgents from melting back into the landscape and allowed the french forces to dictate their engagements. All too often conventional forces allow insurgents to slip by after contact without any real thought given to an immediate pursuit. Insurgents are most vulnerable when they're exposed and in the open, exploiting this before they can go back into hiding should be considered crucial.
Those above usually don't want the war to end quickly
Mobility means lack of armor, which means body bags, which means political suicide. Its also harder to use air support when highly mobile. Also take into consideration high mobility is very volatile. You might over shoot the enemy and then they are hitting your supply lines or ambushing you in unexpected places. The key to victory is just dont be an imperial POS in the first place.
@@Deno2100 I’m sorry, what? “It’s also harder to use air support when highly mobile.” Technically true, but literally what air support was invented for because it was possible to use when highly mobile whereas heavy artillery wasn’t
@@Deno2100 Not necessarily. The French were always moving even with their larger formations, which made them harder to pinpoint and isolate. Logistics was rightfully considered an afterthought as the ability of any insurgency to interdict logistics is usually pretty limited and rudimentary.
@@farmerboy916 To say that air support was used to replace artillery rings false with me. The first planes have very little fire power and the ones that eventually did have firepower were not used in a way similar to or in a way that mimicked artillery.
Great summary of what was a significantly complex operation. As a former British soldier of 24 years service, my last tour was with the French and US SOF in Tchad on Op BARKHAIN. With a typical British bias against the French I was immensely impressed with how they operated and performed in West Africa, especially after the catastrophes in Afghanistan. But don't be misled, the French armed forces are not to be underestimated, they are excellent soldiers and very capable. I still feel proud to have served alongside them.
Vive La France Mon amies
Literally love the French military. I love playing dumb when people reference surrender in WW2 as the baseline of their knowledge. Literally the strongest military in Europe and man for man as good of a force as there is. They might be relatively small compared to other world powers but they have the organizational and logistical ability to support every unit they have. Add on their own domestic arms industry, the French military is objectively one of the finest in the world right now
well technically the united states would be the strongest military in europe as it has a large military presence in europe
@@kindlytoxic1472 bruh no it's not an European country, just because some of your forces are stationned in an European countries doesn't mean your military is considered an European militarh
When faced vs another conventianal foe like a European army France wont hold up well.
We have to note that their army and doctrine is fully made for fighting in Africa vs rebels whit no organisation and low technology.
France dosnt have doctrines, numbers or even undustrial capasity for a big conventional war, but it dosnt need to since it fights rebels only and is part of NATO so one will attack it soon.
I also must add that there isnt many nations and armies that are ready for a conventional war in the world at this moment.
@@guil7290 The french have the strongest military in europe, the US has a stronger military presence.
@@stefankatsarov5806 true
That's an impressive deployment and fast combined arms operation.
Mali : "OMG France help us we're helpless against terrorism" France helps.
Years later : "OMG France leave us right now, we're absolutely capable of defending ourselves"
Dudes, with all respect due, you're not
100%
Sad this country is now ruled by a military junta, they count on Wagner mercenary company to protect them, they could have asked the French to leave but didn't dare.
French president decided to leave this week.
All the West African countries which fought to save Mali sanctionned Mali economically and are pulling out.
We'll soon see how well the Malian military junta deal with the jihadists.
@@BruneSixtine Oh they didn't asked, they gave the order to french to leave, wich they did. I'm sad that my country became so weak in international relationships, because of shitty gouvernements.
@@mehmetii8527 The French decided to leave.
The following day the Malian military junta asked them "to leave immediately".
The French answered "no, we'll leave in an orderly fashion, it will take between 4 and 6 months".
Sorry Mehmet, the French are still in Mali.
@@mehmetii8527 you're wrong, the Malian junta was refused unconditional support by France because they were no plans for elections in the country so France was organizing a withdrawal of French forces for the country. Which the Malian junta cried about at the UN GA back in september, saying France was abandoning them. After they accepted that France wouldn't support their regime they told France to leave (which they were already doing) to save face. The timeline is clear.
@@mehmetii8527 Mali "ordered" the French to leave after Macron officially decided to leave. That was for the colonels a pitiful way to not lose face in front of its people, so they can pretend they kicked out the French but they didn't. And when the junta ordered the French forces to leave Mali immediately, Macron said nope and that they will take the time they need to remove their troops safely, dismantle their bases and move their equipment to Niger.
I'm in Awe of not only the military operation but your production value and fantastic presentation & narration, thank you! Incredible quality here!
And that's why Brazil never messed with French Guyana
They learned it from Argentina not to mess with Western European powers.
And because Brazil has absolutely no rights on French Guyana and its people. They could have asked their independence as for the other two guyanas but they have chosen to stay French
Brazil still stole the Amapa from the french though. Lucky the UN was there
Very thorough coverage of how the French were equipped, organized and accomplished the operational mission. Well done!
At least they didn’t surrender this time.
@@stoggafllik fucking funny aren't you
@@stoggafllik If comedian was the only job available in the world, we can tell you'll die unemployed for sure.
@@stoggafllik you are unfunny and should think sometime before writing a comment
@@stoggafllik and guess what they did there job less gooooo that hasn't happened since the napoleonic wars
Good job, one thing : the 1st REP was dissolved in 1961 after the putsch in Algeria : it was the 2nd REP which jumped on Timbuktu
The French have centuries of experience on expeditionary warfare in low infrastructure and difficult environments. Probably the best in the world in things like these.
Lol no
@@gar50172 France triggers you
Well as a French. I do recognize the level of our British neighbors too. But it is right that the empire history of our two states explains a lot as rapid interventions is part of our military forces for a long time
Portugal,Spain,Japan (limited), Netherlands, Belgium, British Empire/UK -
Agree with you but you will descover that many people mainly from Algeria, are so mad about France historical dominance, that they are creating since the independent, a ferry tail about how France was an horrible incompetent monster and how your military tradition is weak.
And this stupidity is spreading like shit in all uneducated mind...
Interesting to compare and understand how the former countries of Indochina became what they are nowdays, regarding how Algeria/Africa became.
Other nations: "That's a whole ass convoy. We should bring bigger elements and fire supports."
The four French pilots: *Fortunate Son starts playing*
There was once we were doing patrol outside Timbuktu, suddenly we saw there was a military khaki green bag on the top of a tree with what looked like a wire attached to something. As sapper unit we were requested to figure out what was that: after 30mins work, we were pretty sure nothing special and we took down that bag, it was empty. On our way back we wondered why would anyone hide an empty military bag on a tree? only later do we realize it could be a bad lucked paratrooper who jumped into TBU 5yrs ago.
Funny story thx for your sharing
If you can occupy a sapper unit for 30 mintues with an empty bag, I'd say it's worth it.
@@janbo8331 by the time we were there, our job was to maintain military presence and carry routine patrols. So we stayed there, going out and getting back every other day. More of police than what in this video showed a rapid advancing war. We have a lot of time can waste but not enough man to risk
@@janbo8331 here i will give more details of how an empty harmless bag took us 30mins, first the infantry made such requests as they should ( it could be an IED who knows), but to start investigating a 100meter perimeter must established, that setting up took time. The real investigation was quick, using binocular watch it from 10meters and we already know it wasn't a weapon. But since we were already there, so we still checked the surrounding of that tree with metal detector too, that took another 10min. Then in the end we reported said it was no danger, but convoy commander prefer we actually hands on that bag, totally legitimate order, but we were equipped with helmet and body armor, climbing that tree was also tricky.
@@xiaoc.4117 Thanks, that was interesting. In case I gave the wrong impression, I wasn't criticizing the conduct or operations of your unit. Just that, if the strategy of the opponent is to make it a prolonged low-intensity conflict with the purpose of wasting the opponent's resources, tricks such as those empty bags seem like a legitimate tactic.
Another banger of a video Battle Order! The one thing that struck me was the threat to turn the conflict into "France's Afghanistan," juxtaposed against the heavy support of the Malian and ECOWAS troop deployments.
As a companion video, I'd be interested in seeing how the local and ECOWAS formations worked, their strategic limitations, and the battles they fought. It'd be cool to hear about their capabilities/actions
Chadians troops are the only competent ones. Legit CHADS pun intended and the only capable sub-Saharan African army besides South Africa.
@@Frencho9 the Nigerians aren’t bad either.
@@kurousagi8155 considering the tribal state of Nigeria which is near implosion like Ethiopia I am a bit skeptical. They are Africa's richest country due to oil revenues which allows the purchase of entry level military tech but little national cohesion, this adversely trickles down into low military cohesion and morale. I mean they have lost control of huge parts of the country to Boko Haram! Military kit < Morale and cohesion. Chad has little in advanced military kit but they are tough warriors that rarely rout and have excellent tactics, and can stomach casualties. Amazing will to fight! Actually I think Rwanda takes spot number 3 for subsahran african armies, good cohesion to the point they are doing power projection in the Mozambique conflict.
@@Frencho9 the Nigerians did well in Sierra Leone a while back. I’d definitely accept Rwanda as one of the best trained Sub-Saharan armies. I’d rate Uganda rather highly as well.
@@kurousagi8155 Yes but that was 20 years ago. Sadly in the meantime Nigerian capabilities have fallen low. Meanwhile Rwanda intervene in both congo wars, minusma and another bunch of military ops non stop since 1999. And Rwanda is safe and stable country without internal insurgents.
This was a lot of simultaneous components that it makes you at least marvel at the logistics behind it. Getting together all these units already in Africa and then just rapidly deploying masterfully. Very impressive.
The whole operation is very impressive, well done France. Great video!
They do have colonial anti-insurgency experience, and it shows.
Interesting video 👍
@@josefmengele181 I think they where asked to leave. I may be wrong someone may know why they left.🙂
@@josefmengele181 Nothing's changed and it will keep happening unfortunately maybe one day they will wake up.🙂 (Maybe)
@@josefmengele181 haha.Your probably right 🙂
"We're in Mali and we're staying, but not under just any conditions," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters at an EU foreign ministers meeting last week. some of France's European partners have been more explicit, with German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht saying Berlin could transfer its military mission in Mali to another country. "The safety of our soldiers is my first priority," she stressed. germany has around 1,500 soldiers in Mali as part of the United Nations' MINUSMA peacekeeping mission and the EU's mission to train Malian soldiers. sweden, which has 300 troops in Mali, said it was also concerned by the situation.
Smells like colonialism and imperialism with a dash of militarism in this bad boy. I don’t blame them for fighting back hell we would do the same.
We should leave ffs.
They don't want us, and I don't want to see any European dying for a country that hate us.
If they want to be an Islamist caliphate with ethnic genocide and mass oppression, its their choice.
No European should die for this.
@@mrsupremegascon The problem arises afterwards. Someone would fill the gap left by the French/other Europeans. Mainly the Chinese.
@@chrismath149 the Russians have just taken over Mali and Sponsoured a Coup in Burkina Faso. Well not the Russians officially The Wagner PMC. SHocking just how many Russian Flags you can get in Mali all of a sudden to wave in front of the camera
Let the Russians enjoy the neverending war. Let's see how long until the locals turn against them like they did the French. Just last month the Russians slaughtered 70 civilians in Aïgbado in the CAR.
@@cjthebeesknees Then go to Mali and join the religious extremist (Ansar Dine) or the ethnonationalist militias (MNLA) .
Don't be too shy about crime against humanity tho, and prepare to treat local minorities as piece of meat.
Maybe France neo colonialism is not great, but only a fool or an Europhobic would prefer a Mali ruled by Ansar Dine.
I remember learning about this conflict in high school. What France was able to do is pretty damn impressive when you take into account just how large the region is.
well, it is a big region, but it's mostly empty, the north of mali is pretty much a big desert
@@AlexDerange true
@@AlexDerange Doesn't that make the whole thing even more impressive, especially in terms of logistics required to sustain the operation? The point you made is actually merely reinforcing his.
I mean it is a vast, arid, sparsely populated territory with not much infrastructure or vital ressources (shelter, food, water) beyond some densely populated areas such as Gao or Timbuktu regions and ridiculous gigantic mountains to easily hide into in the north. That's a logistical nightmare. And very few places on the planet if any reach that level of heat. The northern part of the country where the final battle took place was the "Adrar des Ifoghas" (that's what I got when I googled "Ifoghas mountains" as I was intrigued by the rocks shown in the video) and having taken a look at a few pictures I for sure wouldn't want to fight there lmao.
easy to fight against unorganized insurgents with no advanced weapons and armour
This is a perfect example why logistics are so important in winning wars. Tactics might win battles but logistics win wars
France failed at both when it surrendered to Germany in 6 weeks and almost caused the British army to get captured
@@johnnyboy3410 you mean allowed the british army to retreat in Dunkirk
Thanks for the informative video. I also like the visual animated conflicts on some bits, it’s quite creative. Earned a subscription, and props to the French and everybody who supported them.
Every time I hear about modern French military operations and units I am impressed.
and all those people who make french surrender memes seethe and cope and mald when hearing it
@@adankmeme651 it was like 80 years ago bruh
Wow, what a clear and precise description of the campaign and units, you do great work
Wow considering how large the region is the climate the terrain and just how far away mainland france is from mali to do this operation this quickly and succesfuly is mind blowing well done France 🇨🇵
@@carkawalakhatulistiwa do you know the difference between s e x and r@pe? When Mali invited France in 2013 and france is leaving when Mali asks it was consensual when Russia invaded Ukraine it's not consensual it's very simple really. I hope you can understand.
"Serval, a brigade in combat" is an excellent documentary that I highly recommand to all of you !
The fun fact is that the malians now call this ass saving operation a "colonial invasion".
fun fact, westerners call this colonial invasion a ""saving operation"".
@@ujox3720 yeah right. If not for France millions would not have head for being infidels.
@@ujox3720 Mali literally asked for french help
@@ujox3720 Malí asked for support, coming from someone who is originally from third world
@@ujox3720 Mali asked for it u dumb
Awesome video would love to see more like this showcasing modern conflicts and the GWOT.
Recent two decades gave me the clear picture of "Terrorists" as those who bring terror on civilians. Im looking at you Russia , China, Turkey, North Korea.
@@HanSolo__ Dont forget the USA
15:25 I like that you added this in there. The general sounded proud like Patton. Always moving forward never-stopping. Push, then push faster.
Really great video. I had zero clue about this operation.
Just getting a task force organized by "pulling straws" from other groups in an area and having them be effective on such a short timeframe is truly an accomplishment in itself.
As an french military veteran i want to say thank you for this great video and for the awesome explanations.
The quality is impressive.
Ps: it's also nice to hear different things than the regular "french white flag surrender" jokes. The French Army is very efficient. Anyway, excellent Job !
Merci pour les services rendus. Respect à toi.
Merci à toi pour ce que tu as fait pour la France.
merci pour votre service rendu a la patrie ! respect !
The French are well respected amongst nato’s armys.
the internet puts me into the "francophile pipeline" (which means i am slowly but steadily getting interested into their achievements throughout history), *oh no...*
Everyday I see more and more good things about the French military, and the FFL, and I dig it, cheers -USMC.
Sempe Fi Regards from France 🇨🇵
check out the défense of Dunkerque, a forgoten part of the dynamo operation in ww2
Outstanding analysis and well-researched! I particularly liked how you broke down the French units and how they deploy.
Great Job of the French army and his Foreign Legión, excelente Job of Battle order, this vídeo is a Masterpiece of military knowledge. I love it
Greeting from Colombia south América🤗♥️🎆
I am impress that a foreign channel could make such a precise video about what happen during this campaign. It's becoming such a rare thing on youtube. Congratulation for your work.
Awesome video, I love everything related to the French military, they are incredibly underrated nowadays.
France also has the most beautiful light armoured recon/ fighting vehicle, the amx10rc. A shame that the army is replacing them though
@La cachette des musiques perdues BRRRRRTTT
@@1e9t4r3c Replaced by EBRC-Jaguar, it's pretty cool looking aswell!
@La cachette des musiques perdues gotta agree on that one yep
@@Arthur-sf1go yeah, but I'm disappointed. They replace a scout tank destroyer ( amx's role before) by an infantry fighting vehicle and scout. The cannon goes from 105mm to 40mm, so yeah.
It is cool looking, but not as beautiful and powerful as the 10rc
I must say, I had no idea how good the French army is. Alot reminds me of the "Kampfgruppen" Konzept of WW2.
The flexibility and the ability of France to organize and bring troops, is impressive.
I think we call that GTIA (groupepement tactique inter armée) but not shure if it is the équivalent of the Kampfgruppen
Yes, it is basically the same concept like that of the Wehrmacht Kampfgruppe which are nowadays called task force, battle group, tactical battle group etc.
These are adhoc units, usually in battalion size, which compose of various attached elements of mixed types (inf, tanks, recon, arty, sappers, SOPs etc) to enable them act independently on their task.
It is basically the idea to put in use the theory of combined weapons usage in small unit level.
This is a masterpiece of information and conciseness. Marvelous work
Came home from Mali last week, SWECON / MINUSMA. We drove over the Wabaria bridge a couple of times during operations. Interesting to hear about the battle to take the bridge! And the "toll" pillars on the west bank, just before you enter the town, still bears the marks of the battle.
Great and informative video!
Iraq, military operation "Dage" (Desert Storm) and the capture of Al-Salman airport.
“Few people know that at the end of the first day of the assault, after a fantastic breakthrough, the French troops were in the very north, in the very west. These were the ones who infiltrated Iraq the most. They successfully completed the tasks assigned to them in a huge way. ".
- General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander-in-chief of the allied forces during Desert Storm.
Meh, truth is, Schwarzkopf was mad about the French (and the US 82 Airbone on their right) being too slow.
Honestly, they were not, and he blamed almost everyone to be too slow, it was just Schwarzkopf not realizing how much time it take time to clear fortified position.
The 96 AMX-10 RCs were the most numerically important armored component of the 6th Light Armored Division. The division covered the left flank of the invasion force, protecting the Coalition forces against an enemy counter-attack. During the attack, also named Operation Daguet, the French forces clashed with the Iraqi 45th Infantry Division, which was defeated. The French also captured the As-Salman airfield.
The results of the fighting are impressive. Almost 3000 Iraqis were captured, with twenty enemy tanks being destroyed and two captured. Multiple other light vehicles and artillery pieces were destroyed or captured. The French didn’t lose a single vehicle, and no losses were suffered due to enemy action.
Freaking OUTSTANDING (detailed!) presentation of the operation! Subscribed!
Who says France can't do their own Blitzkrieg?
Great Video!
Well last time we did a blitzkrieg, it was with Napoleon, when he conquered Prussia in 30 days, on foot.
France invented the tactics of Blitzkrieg after ww1, the old senile ww1 generals preferred to build the Maginot line and hope that the british would hold their ground for once and not retreat in land of France. We all know how it went...
@@ommsterlitz1805 France's bulk of mobile troops were encircled around Dunkirk, not around the Maginot. The "old senile ww1 generals" knew very well the germans were going to pass in belgium, the problem is that they expected the german tanks to pass in the flatter areas, not the Ardennes
Fun fact : Charles de Gaulle actually theorized the Blitzkrieg, no one decided to believe him in France but one german dude read his book, this man was Heinz Guderian.
@ they expected the germans to attack through the ardennes, its the general in charge of it that did not warn the high command of the danger and completely fucked his soldiers's defence
Lower maintenance on the wheeled vehicles is something a lot of militaries should’ve taken note of, tracked vehicles have their place but not everything needs to be on a set of tracks, especially when you are fighting a fast paced mounted assault, the Marines in 2003 riding on the AAVs in the desert moving into Iraq constantly broke down
They already did hence all the wheeled APCs and IFVs in western armies
When you're fighting a technologically inferior force that doesn't have APCs or tanks of their own, yes.
The French AMX 10 RC's (wheeled vehicles) during operation Desert Storm:
The 96 AMX-10 RCs were the most numerically important armored component of the 6th Light Armored Division. The division covered the left flank of the invasion force, protecting the Coalition forces against an enemy counter-attack. During the attack, also named Operation Daguet, the French forces clashed with the Iraqi 45th Infantry Division, which was defeated. The French also captured the As-Salman airfield.
The results of the fighting are impressive. Almost 3000 Iraqis were captured, with twenty enemy tanks being destroyed and two captured. Multiple other light vehicles and artillery pieces were destroyed or captured. The French didn’t lose a single vehicle, and no losses were suffered due to enemy action.
Excellent unbiased video.
Absolutely fantastic video. So interesting.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Holy mother of maneuvers! Incredible that you managed to keep track of all of those movements in such a moderately mediatized conflict. It was all over the place haha. Great vid!
being moderatly mexiatized doesn't mean the informations are not availlable.
Outdamnstanding....you had to be an S-2 type....I've sat in on briefings like this and yours was just outstanding....Strong work France.
Excellent video, thanks for uploading 🇫🇷💪🏼
This was VERY interesting, thank you very much for such a high quality content. Maybe you could do a piece like this one about the Russian intervention in Syria in 2015.
why this is an "intervention"?
I've always thought about how efficient the French are when it comes to military operations and this one is a masterpiece.
Joke about France and surrendering all you like, but make no mistake, it is very capable at packing a punch when it needs to.
Vive La France.
They are the most succesful military power in history after all.
Even in the events in which they lost, the average French soldier hold their ground and fought until the end.
Vive la France!
Vive la France 🇫🇷
The “surrender monkeys” meme/trope is immensely tiresome.
Yup the poor people of Mali are a formidable foe
Brilliant!
Well-documented, luminous and precise technical synthesis...a professional job, bravo!
This looks very very similar to the "Plan Challes" during the Algerian war, thanks to lightening warfare based on helicopter mobility, the French army cleared 60% of the Wilayas in several month, after that they were no longer in position to oppose a military threat.
The French doctrine really love speed
@@Yomohayaru Guess they learned their lesson from 1940
@@novus1589 The blitzkrieg was imagine by DeGaulle, it was originally a french doctrine. And Napoléon was well known for moving his armies fast, conquering Prussia and reaching Berlin in 2 weeks by foot. The french army have always loved speed.
Outside of WW2. The French are not known to be pushovers. WW1, Algeria, etc....the French move with speed and efficiency to accomplish their goals. It's impressive to learn about.
In fact, it could be said that part of the reason WWI was so bloody and WWII was a loss for France early on was the lack of manoeuvre warfare. WWI was almost entirely a war of attrition on the Western Front, and French high command subsequently abandoned war of movement for a more reactive posture (no seperate tank entities, as tanks in WW1 were never used as a force independent of infantry, the Maginot). France previous to WW1 was always about movement, and it seems as if France has regained its expertise in command organisation and high mobility warfare.
Great video. A small QoL request for the following ones: it's hard to keep track of the dates and to measure how time goes, and I think a running timeline on one side of the screen could help with that. Great job anyways!
thats some 1st class war fighting, without this fast and effective French intervention things could have turned out very very badly.
Amazing Job !
Thx for this point of view.
Great video! Appreciate all the work France did in Mali. Sad to hear they had to leave.
C'est bien dommage ce qui arrive au Mali ces dernières semaines, et je parle aussi bien pour nos soldats tombés au combat que pour le peuple Malien.
surtout qu'ils se font remplacer par le groupe Wagner, connu pour ses crimes de guerre, entre autres
@@joak9755 Quand on sera totalement parti ils vont surement se rendre compte de leur bêtise, mais ce sera trop tard
@@thracese9877 c'est beaucoup en demander d'africains. Ils n'apprennent jamais rien.
As a german dude I have to say, when sh*t goes hot here in Europe, I am glad France is right behind us. The more I get to know the french army and history, the more I admire them.
@@Solaris_Paradox should open a history book
@@Solaris_Paradox Yet in WW1 the French military stopped the Germans dead in their tracks eventually defeating the German Empire. Or how about the Napoleonic wars when France took on most of Europe and won only being defeated when Napoleon made mistakes with age.
@@planderlinde1969 RUssia in winter was a very bad idea
@@planderlinde1969 defeated the germans with the help of russia, uk, and us
Finally some good content about French history, and from an American no less! Glad to find someone who doesn't only smear France
did you not hear of Napoleon? France is the country that has won the most wars in the world. only americans make fun of the french and it's such a shame
@@vd12 mexicans also because they won a battle lol France was fighting all around the world at that time but mexicans think they've beaten Napoleon lol
This was phenomenal! Please make more videos like this!
calling the troops from chad "chads" should have been a thing xD what a missed opertunity
Well ,actually there is a French regiment named "Régiment de marche du Tchad"
March Regiment of Tchad (I don't know who to translate Marche except by "March" or "Walk" 😅😆)
@@thomas.m2250the marching regiment of chads? awesome 😂
@@Masterafro999 Yes it took is name of the former colonial troop based in Tchad
It's a regiment who fought during WW2 especially in North Africa (1941-1943) and then participate in the liberation campaign of France in 1944 until the final victory of France alongside the Allies
Great analysis, really loving the quality of your videos. More!
impressive the speed of reaction of the French, organizing all this and the military actions in parallel is really a challenge! as a former soldier I have immense respect for the mission carried out on a territory 4 times the size of France, a real feat. just amazing....god!
very intresting, i love learning about this stuff. Espically from such a well researched and presented channel such as yours
The internet: Haha France surrender funny.
France: Takes on a country larger than Afghanistan and kick literal ass.
Wow! Good job France for winning against weak unorganized rebels with barely any technology! Wow so strong!!! They definitely won't fold and surrender when fighting against an actual strong military
🤣🤣
I used to visit Mali regularly in late ‘90s, early 2000’s - they kicked zero ass. It was a small scale Afghanistan for France. Mali is less safe now than it’s been in decades.
What a bunch of gullible gits! Seriously.
Edit: Mali was a safe country. A very welcoming and safe country. AQM beat France out. They’re still there. Where are the French?Fkn Russian mercs are doing a better job.
Seriously perturbed by your comment 🤷🏻♂️
@@TheGonzogibby exactly
@@zangrygrapes4571 I got censored. Again here
Edit: repost original comment:
I used to visit Mali regularly in late ‘90s, early 2000’s - they kicked zero ass. It was a small scale Afghanistan for France. Mali is less safe now than it’s been in decades.
What a bunch of gullible gits! Seriously.
Edit: Mali was a safe country. A very welcoming and safe country. AQM beat France out. They’re still there. Where are the French?Fkn Russian mercs are doing a better job.
Seriously perturbed by your comment 🤷🏻♂️
I must admit the wheel vehicles with 90+ MM guns are my favorite fighting vehicle. Looks fun to drive.
Sadly, the AMX-10RC and ERC-90 (with respectively 105mm and 90mm guns) are being replaced. They're relics from the Cold War and the high mobility, flanking cavalry doctrine the French had at the time.
They're being replaced by the EBRC Jaguar, equipped with a modern 40mm gun, and ATGMs.
This is what an effective fighting force looks like.
excellent content, mad respect for the french troops! please more videos covering France's military !
Interesting how the French units are like bookshelves for which the Tactical groups can pick out what they need, or is that not accurate?
Ya it seems they just take whatever’s available and make a tactical group
Standard practise in western armies
Yes, you are right. The Israeli's have done the same with their "Ugda's". A division seized units, tailor made for the operation at hand.
@@norbi1411 even the USA?
@@comentnine1574 yep. It's called combined arms battalion,
Fantastic video, thanks for uploading. Can see much effort went into it. Great stuff!
I'm blown away by the level of details describing the units and groups.
Insurgents: yo we're actually winning this
France: I'm gonna stop you right there bud... I have W H E E L E D A F V s
GAS. GAS. GAS !
I can never get bored of these videos keep it up !!
i admire your ability to put together such a well edited and informative video
Great work breaking these conflicts down, you can see just from the coordination alone that these battle groups are well trained for this arena. Any quick paced conflict in Central Africa would be a hell of a stalemate if troops get bogged down in that terrain.
It was a very light group. It had no tanks, and, as was stated here, very little artillery. But it made up for it in extreme mobility, both due to its lack of heavy weapons and its air support. And the fact that they could deploy so quickly is impressive.
@@swann67000 Yeah, but even if you count them as tanks and not armoured cars, they are still pretty light as modern tanks go.
note the way their self-propelled Howtizers are built: very light (they can be air dropped), 6x6 awd, very fast (100 km/h), long range (up to 45-50 km), and extremely accurate. No need to waste much ammo.
@@hermes6910 Tanks have other uses than fighting enemy tanks, though you are right that this often a task they are deployed for. Among other things, they tend to be the spearpoint of many modern armies, punching holes in the enemy line which can be exploited by follow-up forces. They can also be useful as support for lighter units, if they run into something that requires more punching power than what they themselves have.
@@hermes6910 But you do agree that this was a very light force the French dispatched?
@@hermes6910 True. This isn't a Frank Miller comic.