Hexagone Balard is the headquarters of the

French Armed Forces The French Armed Forces (french: Forces armées françaises) encompass the French Army, Army, the French Navy, Navy, the French Air and Space Force, Air and Space Force and the National Gendarmerie, Gendarmerie of the French Republic. The Preside ...

and the Ministry of the Armed Forces. Inaugurated in 2015, more than 9,300 personnel from the

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French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in th ...

French Air and Space Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Arm ...

and

Direction générale de l'armement The Direction générale de l’armement (DGA; English: Directorate General of Armaments), is the French Government Defence procurement and technology agency responsible for project management, development and purchase of weapon systems for the Fr ...

have moved into this ''165,000 m2'' floorspace white-opaque-glass-fronted building, on 41 acres, from previously separate headquarters for each service branch. It cost 4.2 billion euro.

History

In 2011, the French Government awarded the Opale-Défense consortium a contract, for financing, designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining the complex for thirty years. Agence Nicolas Michelin & Associés designed the seven-story

command and control Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... hatemploys human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization or e ...

center, on a former army air base near the Balard (Paris Métro) in the

15th arrondissement 15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 and preceding 16. Mathematics 15 is: * A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and . * A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky number, a pernicious n ...

. As a military base, the command of the site is handed over to the Major General of the Defence Staff, deputy to the Chief of the Defence Staff. Personnel transferred from historical buildings in central Paris to this site in the south of the city, excepting the ''Defence Minister'' who remains in central Paris. Half of the complex is renovation, including an old navy building, designed in 1934 by Gustave and Auguste Perret. The complex boasts a real drawbridge, interior gardens, missile-strike-resisant walls and an underground operational room.

Appearance

Images of the complex (as well as all military-related and sensitive government buildings in France) can't be seen on Bing Maps,

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, Google Earth, and

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for national security reasons, yet

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, and

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do not censor the satellite image. Only the faceted roof is visible from the elevated

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

. It has the largest solar panel roof in Paris.

Headquarters

The complex serves as the primary headquarters of the Armed Forces. As such, the entirety of the command structure of the military is housed here: * Chief of the Defence Staff ** Major General of the Defence Staff * Chief of Staff of the Army ** Major General of the Army * Chief of Staff of the Navy ** Major General of the Navy * Chief of Staff of the Air and Space Force ** Major General of the Air and Space Force However, the civil administration of the Ministry and the Minister are still headquartered at the '' Hôtel de Brienne'' in the 7th arrondissement of Paris.

References

External links

* * {{Military Headquarters Military facilities in Paris Military headquarters in France Buildings and structures in Paris Government buildings completed in 2015 2015 establishments in Paris Joint military headquarters