In the French Navy, to protect against drones, a Jaguar reconnaissance vehicle was installed on the deck

The French Navy showed how it trains to fight off an influx of sea and aerial drones, but it seems that the ultimate solution has not yet been found

Source: Defence Express

The entire complexity of the issue of combating drones at sea was fully demonstrated by the operation in the Red Sea with the defense of civil shipping from attacks by the Yemeni Houthis. Because the problem is not that they are difficult to shoot down, the problem is the cost of destruction, which forced even the USA to look for new approaches.

All other countries are also actively thinking about this problem, but in France they even decided to show the result of innovations and a return to historical experience, and the main thing – based on existing solutions.

Attention les oreilles !
Entraînement avancé à la lutte anti-drones, Wildfire a opposé à nos frégates et aéronefs, des menaces réalistes et virulentes. pic.twitter.com/w7QnpbG4SG

— Marine nationale (@MarineNationale) October 5, 2024

And on top of that – install a Jaguar reconnaissance vehicle on deck. In this case – landing craft. And despite the fact that Jaguar is a completely land-based machine, which began to be supplied to the troops only in 2022. And, by all accounts, it worked.

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After all, the armament of the machine – 40 mm automatic gun, which is combined with a modern fire control system, perfected aiming and stabilization. But it is worth adding that if necessary, the Jaguar crew can also use the Akeron MP ATGM.

Of course, no one forgot about the main artillery armament of any ship from a corvette and above – universal artillery installation. Despite the fact that its role in modern warfare was seen as only symbolic, because hardly anyone expected to see artillery duels between ships, in fact they can be used for shooting at air targets. At the same time, the rate of fire of such installations is clearly not enough.

Also, the 20-mm automatic gun F2, which entered service in the naval version in 1983, but is based on the land-based M693 of the 60s, which is very similar, got into the footage on the German Rh-202 from the Marder BMP. And it is worth adding that the accuracy of firing from it directly depends on the skill of the anti-aircraft gunner.

The situation is similar with other anti-drone means in the form of machine guns on swivels. And they are the “last line” defense of the ship.

Thus, objectively, the French Navy simply does not have a real serial solution that would allow for an ultimate response to the threat of sea and air drones. Another thing is that it is not currently in any fleet of the world. And the whole evolution may well come down to what happened during the Second World War, when the ships of all states entered it with a minimum of anti-aircraft artillery, and came out – hung by Oerlikons.