Counter-drone at sea: French Navy trains during “Wildfire” on the Île du Levant

The fifth “Wildfire” exercise of the French Navy recently took place at the Île du Levant site of the French defence procurement agency (DGA). The focus is on high-intensity conflict and, above all, counter-drone defence: the exercise is intended to prepare navy crews for this. Since it was first held in 2022, “Wildfire” has steadily gained in importance.

For an entire week, the crews faced threats of the kind a high-intensity war scenario brings. These were numerous and varied, came from the sea and from the air, and mostly at the same time. The naval forces' task was to detect, identify and neutralise them. This requires all components to be perfectly coordinated and the available assets to be mastered – exactly what the exercise trains under extreme conditions.

Counter-drone defence against Snipe, Banshee and Zodiac

Six ships, five of them frigates, and four helicopters, including one from NATO, took part in the current edition. At the premiere in 2022, only one frigate participated – so the number of participants has risen considerably. The DGA implemented the threats, deploying a total of 26 remotely controlled aerial targets of the Snipe and Banshee types and nine remotely controlled maritime targets of the Zodiac type, which simulated drone attacks.

The scenarios were drawn up in advance according to the requirements of the French Navy, which have expanded considerably over the past three years. The DGA examines, validates and implements the scenarios.

The scenarios can also change during the exercise. If the crews react to the threats in a certain way, the scenario may have to be adjusted. The navy then requests that one of the targets change its trajectory towards one of the ships. In terms of resources this is not really a problem, but in terms of safety it is considerably more complex: ships or helicopters fire at aerial or maritime targets in real time with artillery or small arms – in an area that is limited but nevertheless quite extensive.

“Wildfire” is now one of the most demanding exercises of the French Armed Forces. The crew of a frigate that took part the previous year described the training as very realistic preparation for the threats that actually occur. After last year's exercise, this frigate was deployed in the Red Sea as part of an operation escorting the aircraft carrier “Charles de Gaulle”.