Drones fly over French strategic nuclear submarine base, media report

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.

巴黎——据法新社援引宪兵队的消息称，几架身份不明的无人机飞越了法国的隆格岛海军基地，该基地是法国战略核导弹潜艇舰队的所在地。

法新社称，周四晚上7点30分左右，有5架无人机“通过技术手段”在基地上空飞行，负责保护基地的部队多次开火反无人机。

据《解放报》报道，这些无人机已被“制服”，该报称通常的做法是进行干扰。

据《解放报》援引大西洋海事局的消息报道，雷恩市军事检察官办公室已对多架无人机飞越该地区一事展开调查。

解放组织称，目前看来，这些无人机重量较轻且未携带武器。

据《解放报》援引海事局发言人、海军护卫舰舰长纪尧姆·勒拉斯勒的话称，这些无人机是小型型号，“不会对敏感基础设施构成威胁”。这位海军军官还表示，此前在11月17日至18日夜间，曾有无人机飞越克罗宗半岛（长岛是其一部分），但并未飞越军事区。

此次飞越事件是近期欧洲军事设施上空无人机入侵事件的最新一起，丹麦、荷兰和比利时等国都报告称，军事空军基地上空出现了不明无人机系统。

法国是欧盟唯一拥有核武器的国家，与英国一起，是欧洲北约中仅有的两个拥有自己核武器的国家。

朗格岛是四艘“凯旋”级核动力弹道导弹潜艇的母港，这些潜艇构成了法国核威慑力量的海洋部分。

法国的军事理论规定，必须保持持续的海上存在，任何时候都至少有一艘核动力潜艇在巡逻。

法国空中威慑力量由装备有核弹头巡航导弹的阵风战斗机组成。

据法国武装部队部称，法国于 10 月份推出了 M51 潜射战略弹道导弹的现代化版本，该导弹射程、精度和穿透敌方防御的能力均有所提高。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。