French UAVs

摘要

The French DGA selected the SAGEM Sperwer as its SDTI (System de drone tactique intermediare) to replace the earlier SAGEM Cre-cerelle in French army service. A total of four systems were acquired, and it was supposed to be followed by a more versatile tactical UAV called MCMM under the 2003-2008 program. However, the program flopped and after considerable turmoil, a new SDT program emerged in 2014-15 with an aim to deploy a next generation SDT (System de drone tactique) in 2017. This time, the approach is to select an off-the-shelf solution with competitors including the Sagem Patroller, Thales Watchkeeper, Airbus/Textron Shadow M2, or IAI Pelerin.