The French Navy has begun testing FPV drone strikes against uncrewed sea targets, as demonstrated during the Dragoon Fury 2025 exercise. The scenario involved launching FPVs directly from a Mistral-class amphibious assault ship to destroy a simulated naval drone target, which essentially was a decommissioned boat towing another small vessel.
This experimental training highlights France’s growing focus on preparing for high-intensity maritime warfare. As maritime threats evolve, particularly with the increasing use of unmanned sea systems — a tactic widely seen in Ukraine’s ongoing defense efforts — NATO navies are adapting their strategies accordingly.
The French marine forces are also conducting Polaris 2025 exercises in parallel, which have included detonating a naval mine near a frigate and testing an indigenous version of Ukraine’s Magura V5 sea drone. These drills aim to boost preparedness amid rising tensions with russia and China.
Interestingly, the use of FPV drones to counter enemy unmanned surface vehicles strongly resembles earlier russian tactics. In 2023, russia attempted to launch strike FPVs from helicopters to intercept Ukrainian remotely piloted explosive boats. However, these attempts failed spectacularly — two drones reportedly exploded onboard Mi-8 helicopters, prompting russia to abandon the idea.
More recently, russia has revealed a sea drone project named “Katran”, allegedly aimed at targeting Ukrainian coastal defenses. Yet its design and even name seem heavily borrowed from Ukraine’s own marine drone developments. It’s suspected that this russian system may eventually be used to hunt Ukrainian USVs rather than coastal targets.
Therefore, it is quite possible that the French took the idea of using FPV drones from the russians. Given the limitations of naval drones, such as low speed and maneuverability — targeting them with FPVs appears to be an effective and affordable countermeasure.
