Macron appoints military advisor as new army chief

PARIS (AFP): President Emmanuel Macron has appointed his closest military advisor, an experienced fighter pilot, as the new chief of staff of France’s armed forces, Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Wednesday.

Fabien Mandon, a 55-year-old air force general and former Mirage fighter jet pilot, takes over from Thierry Burkhard.

The appointment of Mandon, who has extensive combat experience, comes after Macron last week called for a boost in France’s defence spending, citing Russia as a threat for all of Europe.

Macron said that “if you want be feared you must be powerful” and urged “mobilisation” by all government departments.

“I have every confidence in General Fabien Mandon,” Macron said on X, adding he would “guide our forces in the face of major challenges”.

Lecornu said Mandon took on the job in the context of “an increasingly demanding security environment”.

Until Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, France’s armed forces were mainly focused on international missions and asymmetric warfare against non-state actors, such as jihadist groups in Africa’s Sahel.

Over the past three years, Burkhard has overseen a strategic shift to include the possibility of high-intensity war between states.

Mandon’s career includes several foreign deployments, including in the Central African Republic, Chad, and Tajikistan, from where he flew missions in Afghanistan.

“I killed in Afghanistan. And I know whom I killed: Taliban. I have the soul of a fighter,” he recently told French magazine L’Express.

Mandon also served temporarily as commander at the Avord Air Base, where nuclear-capable fighter jets are stationed.

Part of his brief at the Elysee has been to inform Macron about nuclear deterrence questions.