25 June 2024

At the recent Eurosatory defense show in Paris, French Army Chief of Staff Gen. Pierre Schill stated that developing countermeasures may render small drones ineffective in battle, citing that 75 percent of combat drones in Ukraine are already lost to electronic defenses.

”The life of impunity of small, very simple drones over the battlefield is a snapshot in time,” said Schill. “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.”

Eurosatory 2024 showcased numerous anti-drone measures—both electronic and conventional firepower (shotguns, cannons, missiles, etc.) systems.

While FPV drones have accounted for an estimated 80 percent of battlefield destruction in Ukraine, Schill is confident the situation will change rapidly. For example, the general referenced the fact the "king of the war" at the beginning of the conflict was the Bayraktar drone. But it is no longer used because it is too easy to scramble.

Stocking up on weapons systems is also being made difficult by rapidly evolving technologies. Multiple-year programs to equip the entire French Army with a new piece of equipment may be amended to "batch buys" at the brigade level to ensure the service can find “the right system(s) in this fast-moving world of new technology.” By comparison, 155mm shells can be relevant weapons for ten years or more, and can be stocked accordingly.