The French Army’s 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment (35e Régiment d’Artillerie Parachutiste) carried out its first live-fire demonstration with the new PROTEUS counter-drone system at the Canjuers training area on October 18.
According to the regiment, it is the first French Army unit to receive PROTEUS systems configured to the latest Standard 1 version. The 4th battery’s artillery paratroopers performed the firing trials in a new phase of the Army’s growing focus on anti-drone warfare.
The demonstration involved a 20mm automatic cannon with explosive rounds, mounted on a TRM 2000 tactical truck and paired with the SANDRA targeting system. The SANDRA unit provides alternating day and night vision modes, allowing operators to detect and track low-flying drones under various conditions.
As noted by the French Army, the PROTEUS system serves as a complementary component within a broader multi-layered counter-drone network, operating alongside the VAB ARLAD reconnaissance vehicle and NEROD rifle jammers. This integration provides both kinetic and electronic options to detect, jam, and destroy small unmanned aerial threats.
Images shared by the regiment show a camouflaged vehicle equipped with advanced sensors and operators in field gear, as well as small drones used for test engagements. The live-fire trials highlight France’s ongoing efforts to adapt its ground forces to evolving aerial threats, especially the growing presence of small, fast, and low-cost drones in modern combat zones.
The French Army has steadily expanded its counter-UAV capabilities over the past several years, following lessons from conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East that demonstrated how small drones can threaten front-line units and logistics nodes.
