The size of a tennis racket, the quadricopter takes off from the ground in a light cloud of dust, before disappearing behind a hillock. Objective of his mission: to discreetly join a village, a few hundred meters away, to detect, thanks to his camera, armed enemies and other traps. Looking at the remote pilot’s video screen, a second soldier notes the threats, before making tactical proposals to his superiors to secure the area.
The scene does not take place in a war zone, but in Aube, at the Mailly camp combat training center. At the end of May, around twenty teams from 17 regiments faced off there during the 4th edition of Dronex. The competition allowed participants to improve their proficiency with the ground forces’ two smallest drones, the “nano” Black Hornet, the size of a titmouse, and the quadcopter Anafi, produced by the French company Parrot.
Such exercises are set to multiply: the conflict in Ukraine is a daily reminder of the crucial role of drones. To remain competitive, the French army must equip itself, and quickly. By 2025, 3,500 pocket aircraft will equip the various units deployed in operations or training. Ambition displayed: that all units of the land forces, even the smallest (such as a “section” of about thirty soldiers), be equipped with such systems.
Especially since they will not only be used for reconnaissance. “These drones will make it possible to guide artillery fire, whereas today you need to deploy an observer to determine the coordinates of the objective to be treated”, explains General Valentin Seiler, commander of the specialized centers of army training. A use already in progress in Ukraine… to adjust the shots of the French Caesar gun delivered to kyiv.
A small investment for big damage
The delay also concerns remotely operated ammunition. Despite their decisive role in recent conflicts, France has none. Yet, as General Seiler points out, these kamikaze drones “can destroy a tank at 10 million euros, while they cost a few thousand or tens of thousands of euros per unit, a very clear cost-effectiveness ratio” . To alleviate the emergency, 82 American Switchblades must soon be acquired for the special forces, before the delivery, from 2026, of the first examples made in France – Colibri and Larinae (with respectively 5 and 50 kilometers of range).
This is not the only capacity hole in the French army, which no longer has a tactical drone since the withdrawal of the Sperwer in 2020. Its successor, the Patroller, has just been certified, four years late – l one of them crashed in 2019. A total of 28 aircraft equipped with state-of-the-art sensors and 5 control stations have been ordered from Safran. But the first complete system will not be taken in hand until 2024, with armament by 2028… at the earliest.
Soon a combat drone as big as a Rafale
The end of the decade will also see the arrival of the Eurodrone (the size of a combat aircraft). An Arles program launched fifteen years ago with Germany, Italy and Spain. It must allow France to free itself from the American Reapers, with which it carries out the majority of its air strikes in the Sahel. Airbus, the manufacturer of the Eurodrone, also arouses the interest of the army with its Zephyr, capable of flying for weeks, thanks to solar panels, at an altitude of 21 kilometers. From the ground to the stratosphere, drones are changing the era of the military.