Beyond demonstrations, the issue remains employment from existing platforms, without a dedicated flight deck, in a saturated electromagnetic environment. The 2028 date sets the timetable announced for the French Navy.
Aerial, surface or underwater drones, anti-ship missiles and automated mine-clearance systems are among the systems presented. The French Navy already has aerial drones aboard its ships.
These craft nonetheless remain difficult to operate from a vessel that does not have, as aircraft carriers do, a flight deck able to compensate for roll and pitch with a counterweight system.
A strong trend toward the digitization and “dronization” of warships is unveiled there. The edition shows how warships and embarked weapons are adapting to new ways of fighting.
All aspects of integration are examined: physical integration, to launch and recover the craft, and the electromagnetic environment. That environment is particularly intense aboard a warship.
A vessel carries antennas, radars, sonars and jammers. Aerial, maritime or underwater drones must not interfere with this equipment.
This drone flotilla command system is described as the true “brain” of these new weapons. It must link sensors, vectors and the conduct of the maneuver.
Artificial intelligence embarked aboard the drones, as well as on the system that integrates the data, is presented as necessary to help establish the situation.
The Euronaval exhibition opens its doors on Tuesday, November 3, at the Villepinte exhibition park (Seine-Saint-Denis), as it does every two years. It is the world’s largest exhibition devoted to naval defense.
The dronization of the majority of French Navy vessels is expected to be effective from 2028. The acquisition of a specific combat system is planned for that horizon.