Maîtriser la puissance de feu. Un défi pour les forces terrestres
Over the last few decades, in order to limit the risk of collateral damage, tailoring the effects of firepower has become a main concern for Western armed forces.
The complexity of the task, however, can greatly vary according to the environment. Land forces have to use direct and indirect firepower in a complex terrain, for a diversity of missions, using a range of different systems, to achieve lethal and non-lethal effects. This thus raises the question of how land forces, and especially the French Army, confront this requirement. This study assesses land forces’ capabilities and needs in terms of tailoring the effects of firepower, according to the type of operation or to the environment they work in, and analyzes the risks and opportunities of a greater reliance on precision-guided fires.
This content is available in French: Maîtriser la puissance du feu. Un défi pour les forces terrestres
Author(s)
Corentin BRUSTLEIN
Research fellow, coordinator of the Security Studies Center and head of the Deterrence and Proliferation program
Related centers and programs
Discover our other research centers and programs
Security Studies Center
Heir to a tradition dating back to the founding of Ifri, the Security Studies Center provides public and private decision-makers as well as the general public with the keys to understanding power relations and contemporary modes of conflict as well as those to come. Through its positioning at the juncture of politics and operations, the credibility of its civil-military team and the wide distribution of its publications in French and English, the Center for Security Studies constitutes in the French landscape of think tanks a unique center of research and influence on the national and international defense debate.
Find out more
Discover all our analyses
The Future of Air Superiority. Command of the Air in High Intensity Warfare
Air superiority, understood as control of the air, is a cornerstone of the Western art of warfare. It is a decisive condition, albeit not sufficient by itself, to achieve military victory, as it enables the concentration of air power toward the achievement of wider strategic objectives and protects other components from unbearable attrition levels. It is best achieved through the offensive use of air power in a joint effort to neutralize the enemy’s air power.
Europe Uncovered?
As Russia continues to threaten Europe, the Trump administration is making no secret of its desire to withdraw—at least partially—from the defense of the Old
Continent in order to focus on strategic competition with China. It is thus putting pressure on its European allies to increase their investment in the military sector. The NATO Summit in The Hague in June 2025 resulted in ambitious commitments by member states to increase their defense spending.
How should Britain and France cooperate to realise the Northwood Declaration?
During his state visit to the United Kingdom (UK) last week, Emmanuel Macron, President of France, signed a joint declaration with Sir Keir Starmer, Prime Minister, on nuclear cooperation between Britain and France. The Northwood Declaration highlights that while both countries’ nuclear arsenals remain sovereign, cooperation on nuclear deterrence can ‘contribute significantly’ to the security of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the Euro-Atlantic region.
The Evolving Role of Nuclear Rhetoric in Iran’s Strategic Calculus
How has the Iranian strategic discourse about nuclear weapons and deterrence evolved?