Military

UK and France activate joint expeditionary force

France and the United Kingdom validated their Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF) on 21 April as part of Exercise 'Griffin Strike'.

The UK Secretary of Defence Michael Fallon and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian jointly announced the Full Validation of Concept (FVOC) for the CJEF during a visit to the exercise, that took place on the Salisbury Plain Training Area in southern England.

A series of joint unit-level exercises involving UK and French military forces are to follow-on from the validation.

Senior UK and French officers are already working on the next phase of Anglo-French military co-operation to follow-on from the five year-long effort to establish the CJEF.

Speaking to IHS Jane's at RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire on 18 April, Air Commodore Johnny Stringer, Chief of Staff Operations at the RAF's Headquarters Air Command, said Anglo-French co-operation would evolve in new ways. "There is a temptation to look at big exercises but you often miss the opportunity for richer types of engagement," said Air Cdre Stringer. "In future you will see lower level exercises to keep Anglo-French engagement going."