Mission Pégase 26 has put French military power on display across the Indian Ocean, and the deployment rests on a specific institutional foundation: the overseas territories of La Réunion and Mayotte. Conducted under the authority of the Forces armées dans la zone sud de l’océan Indien, the exercise illustrates both the strategic mandate assigned to these forces and the operational constraints they face in an increasingly contested maritime space.
The mission departed in early September from base aérienne 125 d’Istres, in the Bouches-du-Rhône, with nine aircraft: four Rafale, three A330 MRTT Phénix and two A400M Atlas, mobilising close to 300 aviateurs. Its itinerary took the force to South Korea, Madagascar, Indonesia, India and La Réunion, after a tactical stopover in Greenland. The stated principle is to train in projecting power far and fast, with Rafale jets in the front line and an A400M capable of carrying up to 37 tonnes of freight, transporting passengers and equipment, and conducting rescue operations at sea.
A recent sequence over La Réunion and Mayotte offered a concrete demonstration of that mandate. On the tarmac at Saint-Denis, around thirty parachutists boarded an A400M bound for a jump over open sea off Mayotte, 1,400 km to the northwest. Shortly after takeoff, the rear ramp of the heavy transport opened to reveal two Rafale flying above the crater of the Piton de la Fournaise. After two hours of flight, the side doors opened, inflatable boats were dropped a few hundred metres from the coast, and the men followed, jumping from 500 metres of altitude.
Military commanders framed the exercise in terms of capability maintenance and mission readiness. “Le saut à l’eau nous permet de maintenir un savoir-faire, rejoindre un espace terrestre via la mer pour répondre à une problématique d’insularité. Ce sont des largages assez rares,” said the head of operations, lieutenant-colonel Adrien. Such water drops, he noted, are far from routine. The A400M also periodically supports the 2e régiment de parachutistes d’infanterie de marine, based at Saint-Pierre, whose own air transport capacity is limited to two Casa aircraft. “Il est notamment venu à Mayotte après le passage du cyclone Chido, fin 2024, pour amener des vivres sur place et de l’aide humanitaire. C’est un avion couteau suisse,” added commandant Clémentin, referring to the aircraft’s role in delivering food and humanitarian aid after the cyclone struck at the end of 2024.
Behind the exercise lies a doctrine of positioning. La Réunion and Mayotte serve as the bases from which France monitors maritime spaces and contributes to regional security. The two islands fall under the Forces armées dans la zone sud de l’océan Indien, a command of roughly 2,000 military personnel responsible for an area of 24 million square kilometres stretching from Kenya to the Antarctic. Lieutenant-colonel Adrien described the regiment’s vocation as intervening on behalf of populations, particularly during cyclonic or climate-related crises, and identified the security of French nationals in the sub-region as a priority. The positioning of forces on the two islands, he said, also allows faster reaction in the event of a crisis.
That posture is embedded in a wider framework of regional cooperation. The forces work with neighbouring states, members of the Commission de l’océan Indien and the countries bordering the canal du Mozambique, to facilitate joint interventions against trafficking, maritime threats and natural disasters. A detailed account of the deployment, including the training sequence off Mayotte, can be found at https://lesinguliersete.fr/de-la-reunion-a-mayotte-larmee-francaise-sentraine-dans-un-ocean-indien-sous-tension/
Meanwhile, the strategic environment is not France’s alone. In Mozambique, the Russian paramilitary group Wagner was deployed in 2019 in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, before its fighters withdrew in early 2020 after suffering losses. In the Seychelles, several visits by Russian vessels were reported in 2026, a signal of naval relations between Moscow and the archipelago. For a command whose mandate spans 24 million square kilometres, these developments form the backdrop against which the accountability of France’s regional command, and its ability to deliver on crisis response and population protection, will continue to be measured.