Hexagone Balard () is the headquarters of the

French Armed Forces The French Armed Forces (, ) are the military forces of France. They consist of four military branches – the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force, and the National Gendarmerie. The National Guard serves as the French Armed Forces' milita ...

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

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

French Air and Space Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the French Air F ...

and Direction générale de l'armement have moved into this white opaque glass-fronted building, on , from previously separate headquarters for each service branch. It reportedly cost around 4 billion euros to build.

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 center, on a former army air base near the Balard (Paris Métro) in the 15th arrondissement. 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 historic 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-resistant 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

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, and

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for national security reasons, yet Here WeGo, and Yandex Maps do not censor the satellite image. Only the faceted roof is visible from the elevated

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. 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 facilities in Paris Military headquarters in France Office buildings in Paris Government buildings completed in 2015 2015 establishments in Paris Joint military headquarters 21st-century architecture in France {{France-mil-stub