PARIS — Several unidentified drones flew over France’s Ile Longue naval base, home to the country’s fleet of strategic nuclear missile submarines, according to Agence France-Presse, citing the gendarmerie police.
Five drones were detected “by technical means” flying over the base on Thursday around 7:30 p.m. local time, and troops assigned to protect the base opened anti-drone fire several times, AFP said.
The drones were “neutralized,” daily Liberation reported, with the newspaper saying the usual procedure involves jamming.
The military prosecutor’s office in the city of Rennes has started an investigation after the overflight of several drones, Liberation reported, citing the maritime prefecture of the Atlantic.
The drones for now appear to have been light and unarmed, Liberation said
The drones were small models “that did not threaten sensitive infrastructure,” according to Frigate Capt. Guillaume Le Rasle, a spokesman for the maritime prefect, cited by Liberation. There was a previous drone overflight of the Crozon peninsula, of which Ile Longue is a part, in the night of Nov. 17 to 18, without flying over the military zone, according to the navy officer.
The overflights are the latest in a string of drone incursions over military locations in Europe, with Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium among the countries reporting unidentified unmanned aerial systems over military air bases.
France is the European Union’s only nuclear-armed power, and together with the United Kingdom one of the two countries in European NATO to have its own nuclear weapons.
Ile Longue is home to four nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines in the Le Triomphant class that make up the ocean-based part of French nuclear deterrence.
French doctrine prescribes a continuous-at-sea presence with at least one nuclear-armed submarine on patrol at any given time.
The airborne part of the French deterrent consists of Rafale jets armed with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.
France introduced a modernized version of its M51 submarine-launched strategic ballistic missile in October, with improved range, accuracy and capability to penetrate enemy defenses, according to the French Armed Forces Ministry.
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.
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