The French were used to seeing their soldiers in battle ... through their television sets! They would are now being deployed in the streets, on the beaches, around sensitive areas. The war, whose form is certainly one of the most successful phenomena of globalization, is now one of the most important imported to our soil. It passed through the plasma screen that contained it. She's back, more violent, more... complex, more subtle, more blind...

In his recent book entitled Qui est l'ennemi ?, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian points out that This novelty: "Twenty-five years after the Gulf War, we have changed times". One generation has passed; another one is taking shape...

Sincethe launch of Operation Daguet, six hundred thousand men - the equivalent of the Grande Armée - have succeeded one another inso-called asymmetric military operations inwhich we had a definite operational advantage .Recent engagements, particularly in Afghanistan, heralded the end of a cycle, that of the supremacy ofWestern armies . It isnow a reality: dominating the adversary - whether he is a terrorist today or potentially of a different nature tomorrow - is no longer a foregoneconclusion.

In such a context of strategic disruption, France must imperatively maintain a very high level of its military tool, which bears the dual responsibility of defending the City and contributing to the robustness of the city. the nation.

De Gaulleended his writing of Vers l'Armée demétier with these words: "if the national overhaul were to begin with the army ,there would benothing but conformity to the natural order of things". This is theambition of the new model of the Army, a kind of rebirth built on a logic that is both triennial and three-dimensional . Three years to design (2015), set up (2016) and implement(2017); three dimensions to organise (with "In Touch"), equip (with the capability transition of which Scorpio is the most emblematic aspect) and orient (with Future Land Action).

Thefirst dimension, "In Touch", is much more than the structural reorganisation to which some people sometimes reduce it .It truly brings the Army into a new era, making it both more connected to the other forces of thenation and more adaptable to the context, whether it be security or financial, to enable it to better withstand shocks .

The relevance of this issue of plasticity was immediately obvious. validated by current events through two major successive inflections: the increase in the threat on the national territory and, as a result, the rise in power of the land task force. As for to the will to be more connected to the Nation, it is declined on several fields: rapprochement of the industrial world - in a virtuous reciprocity between economic patriotism and patriotic economy -, better interministerial cooperation promoting synergies, and finally strengthening the Armed Forces-Nation link - as a pillar of social cohesion, a vector of the spirit of resistance and a driving force for national pride.

Thesecond dimension of this change of era is that of means. The Army is currently undergoing themost important capability transition of the last three decades. It constitutes a major adaptation of themilitary tool to ever more complex operational engagements against ever more elusive enemies . The Scorpion integrator program is its banner.By2020-2025, it will modifytheentire "combat core" of the French Army, in particular through simulation, info-enhancement and increased aggression and protection capabilities.

Thethird dimension, the most prospective, is the subject of this book . "Au contact" and Scorpion are two versions of the same ambition to which I wanted to give a meaning, a direction. This is the whole purpose of the Future Earth Action project .Internally, I am counting on this dynamic to keep the initiative in theterrestrial environment .Externally, my objective is twofold: to encourage our industrial partnerstounderstand the issues and needs and tostimulate the emergence of interdepartmental and inter-allied synergies.

This document does not aim to predict with precision and certainty what tomorrow's enemies will be and what the future will bring. the nature of military engagements. That would be a challenge. I do, however, see him as the initiator of a a virtuous dynamic, enabling us to face the strategic and technological ruptures that are bound to occur in the future. not to impose on the Army. In this it constitutes a precious guide for today as well as for the future. tomorrow.

Army General Jean-Pierre BOSSER