Drone Visit to Washington

On the one hand the French want to know if they, too, will soon be the cowboys of the sky, following the Americans in drone killings. On the other hand, these same Americans hardly seem pressed to give up their beloved drones to the unpredictable French.

Between the two sides, one can understand why our Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian was not in a very good mood this Friday evening during his meeting with French and American journalists. “But I don’t want a press conference!” he grumbled, on discovering our friendly little assembly.

After two questions on Syria (which allowed us to reintroduce the French position in all its light: We restate the question of the European embargo on arms deliveries to Syria, but we are not ready to deliver weapons to opponents), the minister let us know that he did not want to speak about this country. Libération thus asked the question that has been upsetting the Internet for several days now: Did he benefit from this visit to Washington in order to seal the purchase of American drones — two surveillance Reapers, but these two Reapers can also carry missiles and thus kill from a distance — for what price, and to do what exactly? According to Air and Cosmos magazine, the first source to reveal this information, they have well and truly made a deal.

Well, not really, the minister responded: “We are having discussions with Americans, and they are continuing.” Judging by the succession of responses, they are continuing a little too much; simultaneously, France is also in discussions with Israel, Le Drian suddenly shot out. “We are talking with them because we need to.” Americans and Israelis are the only ones to produce this type of drone, known as “MALE,” medium-altitude long-endurance. Until now, Israelis have only used their Heron TP for surveillance, but they could soon demonstrate their striking capabilities in war against Iran.

From what we gather in the ranks of the delegation of France, negotiations with Americans come up against two points: First, Congress must endorse this type of sensitive material, even to an ally like France, which fully reintegrated into NATO and is again proving its case in Mali. Elsewhere, Americans themselves are in great need of their spy planes and do not have any extras to sell.

After recent services that France offered to the global war on terror, all this makes us gnash our teeth in France: “Even Italians have Reapers!” a tricolor source whispered. The British have been able to buy them for years already.

Supposing that it ends up obtaining them, what will France do with its Reapers? Will it really use them exclusively for strikes? “But I am only talking about observation drones! I have already told you three times! Do I have to repeat myself a fourth time?” There, we get the impression that we have annoyed the minister a little. Before leaving, he is the one who storms back in, proposing a “tenth” explanation. More cheerful, his advisers direct us to read the new White Paper on Defense, which foresees an immediate purchase of small tactical drones and MALE drones, but not just for observation. Only later, “on the 2035 horizon,” does the minister envision developing “combat drones” with the British that could indeed kill. The idea is that these future “new generation” drones will confront military adversaries, notably airplanes and not only the jihadists or civilians who find themselves there at the wrong time, as Americans currently do with their Reapers. In sum: France will perhaps one day kill with drones, but they will be Europeans and will respect the laws of war. Nothing to get worked up about.