A drone hovers over a French Griffon armoured vehicle covered in snow camouflage and spruce boughs on a misty Estonian road

Portfolio

NATO Mission Lynx

On the eastern edge of the Alliance, Estonia is a forest that waits. French soldiers deployed there under NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence — Mission Lynx — train beside British and Estonian units, in a landscape of pine, birch and bog where Europe’s old vocabulary of war is being relearned.

The work runs through the seasons: Leclerc tanks dressed in spruce boughs in the green of summer, snipers sinking into the moss, drones hovering over armoured columns in the frost. Deterrence is not an abstraction here. It is a camp in a forest, and men who stay through the winter.

Close-up of a French flag above an eFP Battlegroup NATO shoulder patch on a soldier’s sleeve — The flag and the mission, worn on one sleeve.

The commanding officer of the French detachment, rifle in hand, in a frost-dusted training village — The French detachment’s commanding officer (CDU).

A mud-caked French AMX-10 RC armoured vehicle on a gravel road among bare birches — AMX-10 RC armoured vehicles are also deployed in the field.

Two French soldiers fire rifles along a grey blockhouse corner, ejected casings in the air — Urban-combat training.

A camouflage-netted French recon vehicle fires its heavy machine gun at dusk — Night shooting session.

Kneeling silhouettes of soldiers during night live-fire, a muzzle flash against deep blue dusk — Night fire.

A ghillie-suited sniper raises a hand toward a small drone in a sparse pine bog — Drones are used for a reconnaissance mission.

A sniper and designated marksmen in ghillie suits lie prone on the mossy forest floor — A sniper and designated marksmen.

A green-bereted Legion NCO guides a spruce-camouflaged Leclerc tank on a muddy track — Summer. A Leclerc dressed in spruce.

French, British and Estonian soldiers study a map together on a vehicle bonnet — Cooperation between three countries.

A French platoon lined up on a firing range in golden evening light — Facing East.

A French mortar team in a green clearing, one soldier covering his ears and shouting — Mortar drill in the clearing.

A machine gunner fires a belt-fed machine gun from a sandbagged position — A heavy-weapons shooting session.

Tight portrait of a French tank driver in his hatch, steel helmet and balaclava — The gaze of a tank driver.