The proposed French air base (BAP) in Jordan has experts and equipment in place to guard against the overflight of potentially dangerous drones. It is indeed one of the missions attributed to the protection detachment of the BAP that to protect the latter against threats from the sky which could be weighed the use of drones.
With this in mind, the detachment is implementing a cell dedicated to anti-drone control composed mainly of operators from different air-surface defense squadrons (EDSA) of the metropolitan air bases.
This cell of specialists, trained in the treatment of air threats, has the ability to intercept and neutralize all types of drones that would enter a prohibited area. Through optical means such as telemetry and infrared binoculars, they are first able to monitor an area and detect any potential threat and characterize it. If necessary, the interception and the neutralization of the apparatus are carried out by a device for jamming the remote control signals and a shotgun armed with specific cartridges. In parallel with their primary mission, these operators complete the capabilities of the protection detachment by implementing their own drone equipped with a camera that allows aerial surveillance of the BAP.
The Air Defense Squadrons (EDSA) are responsible for the protection of air bases and any sensitive points designated by the Air Defense Command and Air Operations as part of specific aviation security arrangements. They intervene at international summits such as, for example, the 2015 Paris Conference on Climate Change, the “COP 21”, but also at national events such as the Paris Air Show or the July 14 parade, using different defense systems ground-to-air adapted to the context. Always at the forefront of innovation, EDSA is constantly developing new ways of acting to combat these new threats.
Launched since 19 September 2014, the Chammal operation represents the French participation in the OIR (Operation Inherent Resolve) and today mobilizes nearly 1,100 soldiers. At the request of the Iraqi government and in coordination with France’s allies present in the region, the Chammal operation is based on two complementary pillars: a “training” pillar for Iraqi national security units and a “support” pillar. to support the action of local forces engaged on the ground against Daesh and to strike the military capabilities of the terrorist group.
Photo: SGC Sandra AUGUSTE
Source: French Ministry of Defence