French Paratroopers Fire Up Proteus in Live Anti-Drone Drills, Adopting Ukrainian Tactics

France’s 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment has begun live-fire training of mobile anti-drone teams using the Proteus short-range air-defense system, adapting Ukraine’s concept of fast, dispersed “mobile fire groups” to counter low-cost UAV threats.

Defense UA reported on October 21 that the regiment—part of the Army’s rapid-reaction forces—integrated Proteus alongside handheld NEROD jammers and VAB ARLAD vehicles during counter-UAV drills. Proteus pairs a 20 mm F2 cannon on a TRM 2000 truck with the SANDRA thermal sight to enable day/night engagements of small drones.

The regiment publicly confirmed receipt of the first Proteus sets, stating: “The 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment is the first unit of the French Army to be equipped with PROTEUS systems in Standard 1 configuration,” and showcased the systems during a firing day on October 18.

Independent defense outlets have highlighted Proteus as a rapid, low-cost modernization that repurposes legacy 53T2/AA53 20 mm mounts with updated fire control.

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Visuals and reporting from the regiment’s recent trials at the Canjuers range corroborate the configuration and concept: Proteus provided kinetic effect against drones while NEROD jammers (by MC2 Technologies) disrupted links, and VAB ARLAD vehicles contributed radar and additional effectors—a layered approach mirroring Ukrainian practice.

In a related development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s domestically produced interceptor drones now achieve a 68% success rate against Russian Shahed drones.

Earlier, it was reported that the UK and Ukraine agreed to jointly produce around 2,000 interceptor drones per month to counter Shahed swarms, framing the effort as a rapid scale-up of a proven Ukrainian design.

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