French Army technical section develops Proteus anti-drone system standard 3

The Section technique de l’armée de Terre (STAT) has announced that development is underway for standard 3 of the Proteus anti-drone system. This project follows a phased modernization strategy initiated in April 2024 to provide rapid operational responses to evolving battlefield threats, such as the increasing use of FPV drones.

Standard 3 aims to improve the firing process through four key technical evolutions: the electrification of the mount to increase speed against fast-moving aerial threats, the synchronization of movement with the firing solution, the optimization of artificial intelligence algorithms to assist human decision-making, and the integration of new detection sensors.

The Proteus system has evolved through several iterations. Standard 1 utilized a 20 mm anti-aircraft gun on a 53T2 towed mount, a SANDRA thermal camera, and a TRM 2000 truck. Standard 2, developed with assistance from the Agence ministérielle de l’intelligence artificielle de défense (AMIAD), introduced improved detection and AI for trajectory anticipation. The system is also being implemented on the PALADIN, an air-transportable vehicle based on the Scania V3P. Under the updated 2024–2030 military programming law, the French Army is expected to be equipped with fifty Proteus systems by 2030.