Drones fly over a French nuclear submarine base

Yesterday evening, five small drones were detected at around 7:30 p.m. above the submarine base on Île Longue, in the Brest harbor (Brittany), triggering an anti-drone system and several jamming shots by the marine battalion responsible for protecting the site. The devices, described as unarmed and "outside the military context," did not threaten sensitive infrastructure, but authorities believe their operators were seeking to cause public concern.

French Minister of the Armed Forces Catherine Vautrin announced this morning that an investigation had been launched to clarify the circumstances surrounding these flights, while the Rennes public prosecutor's office stated that it had not established "any link with foreign interference" at this stage. No drones were shot down and no pilots have yet been identified, leaving the question of the origin and precise intentions of these illegal flights unanswered.

The spokesperson for the Atlantic Maritime Prefect, Commander Guillaume Le Rasle, emphasized that the base's security system "worked perfectly" and insisted that the drones were small, unarmed civilian models. Visibility conditions, which were particularly favorable due to a full moon close to the Earth, facilitated the detection of the aircraft but also reinforce the hypothesis of a deliberately demonstrative action.

The Île Longue base, the sanctuary of French nuclear deterrence, houses and maintains four nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, at least one of which is permanently at sea, and is permanently protected by 120 maritime police officers in coordination with marines. Drone flights are prohibited and remain rare, although a previous incident was reported in mid-November over the Crozon peninsula, which has no direct influence on the military zone, and this has now heightened vigilance around this strategic site. Le Parisien

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