The French National Day, celebrated on July 14th, began in Paris with the customary military parade.
During a press conference, the Military Governor of Paris (GMP), General Christophe Abad, announced that one of the objectives of the 2023 military parade in Paris for Fête Nationale was to "remind us of our commitment to strategic solidarity with our allies," as reported by Sarbaz.kz with reference to the French news radio station RFI.
India, an honored foreign guest of the French Republic's celebration, participated in the parade with 240 Indian military personnel and aircraft from the Indian Air Force. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on a two-day visit to Paris, observed the parade from the stands.
The military parade involved 6,500 participants. Along the main Parisian avenue, in addition to representatives of all branches of the military and cadets, police officers, gendarmes, and firefighters traditionally marched. The motorized columns featured nearly 160 units of equipment and 60 motorcycles. The parade also featured 200 horseback riders from the Republican Guard. The aviation segment of the parade showcased 66 aircraft and 27 helicopters.
For the first time, the parade included the lightweight multi-role armored vehicles "Serval," which the military began receiving last year. These vehicles proceeded in columns alongside more powerful armored vehicles such as "Griffon" and reconnaissance-combat vehicles "Jaguar" (which were first showcased in the parade a year ago).
A novelty of this year's parade was the introduction of new multi-functional helicopters, the "Guépard" (H160M). Manufactured by the European consortium Airbus Helicopters, these helicopters will replace several old helicopter models in the armed forces (Fennec, Gazelle, Panther, Alouette, Dauphin). The "Guépard" helicopters are being introduced alongside the new attack helicopter, "Tigre."
