Deep within the Mont-Valérien fortress, west of Paris, at the bottom of a winding, dimly lit staircase, the French military has recently installed its artificial intelligence (AI) system in a vast underground data center. The aim is to maintain France's digital sovereignty in the face of the United States. This ambitious project, developed under the strictest secrecy, was unveiled for the first time on Tuesday, September 29, during a rare visit for accredited defense journalists.
Named "Arcadia," this platform, housed in a simple black metal cabinet in a wire-mesh room from floor to ceiling, is designed to embody a number of ambitions. These include not only operational efficiency for the French armed forces, but above all, technological independence at a time when NATO is rapidly modernizing all of its military networks, relying heavily on leading American AI companies, notably Palantir and Anduril.
"Digital denial of access" is currently one of the most effective ways to block an adversary on the battlefield, explained General Erwan Rolland, head of the new Commissariat au numérique de défense (CND, Defense Digital Commissariat), which was established in September 2025 and oversees the Arcadia project. This denial of access ranges from satellite jamming to cyberattacks and strikes on data centers. The method also includes "the extraterritorial rules that some partners want to impose on us," the general pointed out right away, without specifically naming the US.
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