Colonel Gilles Randreau was the officer in charge of UAS programmes in the Army staff, from 2008 to 2011. In 2011, he became the commanding officer of the 61st Artillery Regiment.
Deployed in Afghanistan since 2008, the French Sperwer tactical UAS have been performing a wide panel of missions, from convoy and force protection to intelligence missions. More than 750 missions were performed, sometimes in bad weather conditions, in order to provide forces with specific intel support.
He explained that the Sperwer was nicknamed both “Guardian Angel” since it reassures friendly troops, and the “Sword of Damocles” as it strikes fear in the enemy. What is interesting to notice is the way this type of system evolved, in accordance with the users’ requests. The type of operations in Afghanistan showed the necessity of using tactical UAS as a dedicated asset of the French task force. The role has evolved from ISR towards one of Battle Convoy Protection now that the French Army is planning its withdrawal from Afghanistan.
At the moment, the project to replace the Sperwer system in the years to come is oriented towards a Franco-British cooperation. His unit is already collaborating with the 32nd Regiment Royal Artillery of British Army on Watchkeeper and he hopes that evaluation of the programme can take place in 2013.