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2024-06-26 Science & Technology

Small drones will soon lose combat advantage, French Army chief says

By Rudy Ruitenberg

[DefenseNews] PARIS — The advantage now enjoyed by small aerial drones on battlefields including in Ukraine is but “a moment in history,” French Army Chief of Staff Gen. Pierre Schill said at the Eurosatory defense show in Paris.

While anti-drone systems are lagging and “leave the sky open to things that are cobbled together but which are extremely fragile,” countermeasures are being developed, Schill told reporters during a tour of the French Army stand at the show June 19. Already today, 75% of drones on the battlefield in Ukraine are lost to electronic warfare, the general said.

”The life of impunity of small, very simple drones over the battlefield is a snapshot in time,” Schill said. “Right now it’s being exploited, that’s clear, and we have to protect ourselves. Today, the sword, in the sense of the aerial drone, is powerful, more powerful than the shield. The shield is going to grow.”

This year’s edition of Eurosatory featured dozens of anti-drone systems, including shotguns, cannons and missiles, while companies including Safran, Thales and Hensoldt presented soft-kill solutions to eliminate drones by electronic means. Schill said vehicles in France’s Scorpion collaborative combat program will all be anti-drone systems in two years time, linking their detection capability with turrets that can fire a missile or a 40mm airburst grenade.

First-person view drones currently carry out about 80% of the destruction on the front line in Ukraine, when eight months ago those systems weren’t present, according to Schill. The general said that situation won’t exist 10 years from now, and the question could be asked whether that might already end in one or two years. Schill cited the example of the Bayraktar drone, “the king of the war” at the start of the conflict in Ukraine but no longer being used because it’s too easy to scramble.

The general said he doesn’t consider that the war in Ukraine calls into question the French choice of a maneuvering army built around medium armor, with a focus on speed and mobility. The vehicles that the Army is introducing as part of the Scorpion program -- the Griffon, Serval and Jaguar – can be equipped with either active or passive protection, even if a strong emphasis of mine protection means they’re “quite massive.”

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Posted by badanov 2024-06-26 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11144 views ] Top

#1 Perhaps not the battlefield...

Slaughterbots

"a 2017 arms-control advocacy video presenting a dramatized near-future scenario where swarms of inexpensive microdrones use artificial intelligence and facial recognition software to assassinate political opponents based on preprogrammed criteria."

Posted by Skidmark 2024-06-26 05:20|| 2024-06-26 05:20|| Front Page Top

#2 Air defense has usually been the runt of combined arms environment. It only gets attention when you get your a$$ bit.

Posted by Procopius2k 2024-06-26 07:06|| 2024-06-26 07:06|| Front Page Top

#3 At least, this is what you hope.

Posted by ed in texas 2024-06-26 13:02|| 2024-06-26 13:02|| Front Page Top

#4 Bullets are cheap and dumb, but they don't seem to be obsolete on the battlefield yet.

Posted by James 2024-06-26 18:43|| https://idontknowbut.blogspot.com 2024-06-26 18:43|| Front Page Top

14:34 Frank G
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13:54 mossomo
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13:36 swksvolFF
13:32 mossomo
13:26 Frank G
13:12 Regular joe
13:12 mossomo
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