By Nathalie Six
The recent news of the Ukrainian conflict in the Black Sea and the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea against military or merchant navies have highlighted the increasingly decisive role of drones. Multifaceted, they herald a profound evolution of naval combat by proving capable of increasing the performance of ships and inducing new ways of fighting. Each country is developing its own dronization strategy. This report provides an overview of their potential use and the posture of the French Navy.
They buzz in the air with this timbre now recognizable by all the soldiers of the world. Frightening or reassuring, “the drones of the drones”, as the English call them, embody for some the future of the armies and for others, the fall of Rome. If the victory of the machine over humans has not yet sounded, for the time being, drones are proving to be extremely effective allies in the service of military tactics. These unmanned automated vehicles don’t just travel in the air. On the waves and under the sea, they are integrated into the daily life of sailors and are embarked on many Navy ships, according to the wish of the former Chief of Staff of the Navy, Admiral Christophe Prazuck, whose Mercator plan already recommended in 2019 “one tactical drone per surface ship and semaphore”. Developed for several years, drones have asserted themselves as a constituent element of the Navy at the cutting edge. “Force multiplier” is a “game changer” (as illustrated by the conflict in Ukraine) that allows a competitor to hold his own, gain the upper hand over a leading opponent, or hinder him enough to change his strategy.
The advantages of the drone are plethora: endurance, moderate economic cost, lightness, etc. This remotely operated device dressed in composite makes it possible to get closer to the target without jeopardizing the safety of the pilot and the ships that transport him.
Fighting against hybridity
The Chief of Staff of the Navy, Admiral Nicolas Vaujour, has included in his strategic plan the need to be agile in the short term and determined in the long term. “Being agile means adapting very quickly,” he explained during the screening of the film Surfaces on March 27 at the École Militaire. “We must learn from the conflicts that we observe, as in Ukraine, or that we experiment with, as in the Red Sea, in order to adapt boats, aircraft and submarines to carry out the Navy’s missions. We must improve our ability to fight against this hybridity that is regularly opposed to us. »
In order to improve its dronization strategy, the French Navy conducts different types of exercises.
Dragoon Fury
Always more, always further. “With Dragoon Fury, experimentation is pushed further,” continues Admiral Vaujour. The participating units can draw on all existing drone systems and the scenario includes units from the Army and the Air and Space Force. This year, nearly 700 military personnel from the Navy (the amphibious helicopter carrier Tonnerre, an amphibious flotilla, clearance divers, and naval aviation) and the Army took part in this exercise from March 1 to 14, off the coast of Toulon. The scenario? To carry out an assault on the coastline (recapture of islands) with an amphibious landing of troops, carried out in a context of denial of access, with the help of surface drones, attack drones and interception drones. “Dragoon Fury was a real success,” says the CEMM, “allowing us to move much faster in understanding the constraints and possibilities expressed by the industrialists who, for their part, also understand our needs and objectives much better. This is essential to move faster.” »
In the age of artificial intelligence
More generally, thanks to drones, the underlying idea is to answer the following question: how can the boat’s capabilities be multiplied without changing the hull? During the Clemenceau 25 mission, about fifteen operational reservists, data scientists, embarked on board the carrier strike group “to help develop algorithms using the data collected. It’s the data-centric Navy”. When there is a “zero distance” between the engineer and the sailor, we go faster. These boats, which have data hubs on board, are also equipped with artificial intelligence at a secret level, making it possible to speed up the analysis of the data collected. Shortening the decision-making loop is absolutely essential. “We are experiencing a revolution. »