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Defence

The French Armed Forces are responsible for the defence of the department. These forces also contribute to the defence of other French territories in the region, including Mayotte and the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. A total of some 2,000 French troops are deployed in the region, mostly in La Réunion centred on the 2nd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment. Two CASA CN 235 aircraft, forming air detachment 181 and drawn from the 50th Air Transport squadron, provide a modest air transport and surveillance capability. In 2022, the French Air Force demonstrated a capacity to reinforce the territory by deploying two Rafale fighter aircraft, supported by an A330 MRTT Phénix tanker, from France to Réunion for a regional exercise.

The French naval presence includes two Floréal -class frigates, Floréal and Nivôse, the icebreaker L'Astrolabe, the patrol and support ship Champlain and the coast guard vessel Le Malin. The naval aviation element includes a Eurocopter AS565 Panther helicopter from Flottille 36F able to embark on the Floréal -class frigates as required. In 2025, the helicopter is to be replaced by a AS 365N Dauphin. By 2025, Le Malin is to be replaced by Auguste Techer, a vessel of the new Félix Éboué class of patrol vessels. The French Navy will further reinforce its offshore patrol capabilities in the region by deploying a second vessel of the class (Félix Éboué) to Réunion by 2026.

About 800 National Gendarmerie, including one mobile squadron and one high mountain platoon, are also stationed in Réunion. The Maritime Gendarmerie has also operated the patrol boat Verdon in the territory (though she was reported forward deployed in Mayotte as of 2022).