France Tests New Anti-Drone Systems at DGA Missile Center
Exercises focus on detecting, tracking, and countering drone threats in operational settings
France's Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) Missile Testing Center in Biscarrosse conducted exercises under the "LAD Lab" initiative from Feb. 17-20 to test new state and industrial technologies for countering drones.
The exercises are part of the Anti-Drone Task Force of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, co-led by the DGA and the Army Staff (EMA). The Defense Innovation Agency also collaborated on the tests, which provided a dedicated space for evaluating drone detection, tracking accuracy, and swarm behavior.
Four operational cases were tested, including isolated drones, remotely operated munitions (ROM) guided by GPS and first-person view (FPV) systems, and drone swarms. Experts conducted approximately seventy drone flights to analyze long-range detection capabilities—up to 10 km—and assess interception performance.
The findings will be used to improve future anti-drone solutions and enhance the protection of personnel and sensitive infrastructure. A new series of tests is planned for the second half of 2025 at the Île du Levant site of the DGA Missile Testing Center in the Var region.
The LAD Lab builds on the 2024 "BASSOA" exercises at the Captieux firing range, which involved the Military Air Expertise Center.
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