France may be looking at Ukraine as it plans the future of its military.
The French Army's 2nd Armored Brigade recently tested a range of technologies directly inspired by Ukrainian battlefields of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Defence Blog wrote.
These reportedly included fiber–optic FPV drones, unmanned ground vehicles, and 3D-printed mines, among other solutions developed over the past two years.
According to Defence Blog executive editor Dylan Malyasov, the brigade studied Ukrainian combat practices, focusing on "rapid innovation, low-cost systems and decentralized adaptation."
French army officials reportedly said the full-scale invasion showed that survival and effectiveness now depend on speed, resistance to drones, and the ability to deliver firepower while under constant threat from the air.
Drones loom large over future battle doctrine
According to the French military, the 2nd Armored Brigade met in Camp Bitche in northern France on 15 January for "innovation day" to showcase weapons for the "war of tomorrow."
The French Ministry of the Armed Forces post doesn’t mention Ukraine, but the tools on display — and the stated challenges they’re meant to solve — are certainly reminiscent of Ukrainian battlefields of the 2020s.
These include the Temara attack drone, which Defence Blog describes as an FPV-type platform, guided by optic fiber, which renders it immune to jamming — an innovation of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
There was also the Ric2Ric, a small remote-controlled ground support robot, a growing staple in Ukrainian forces' arsenal.
Still another system, a 3D-printed anti-tank mine called Pac 13, drew "directly from Ukrainian wartime practices, where locally manufactured munitions allow faster adaptations to changing battlefield conditions," Defence Blog wrote, citing French army officials.
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Other drone-centric tech included a drone-jamming rifle, a new type of camouflage tarp meant to reduce acoustic and heat signatures, and anti-drone cages for infantry fighting vehicles, according to the French military statement.
The brigade also showed off a new Thundra electric motorcycle to get around the front. Russian forces have used motorcycles and the Ukrainians have used quad bikes inside the kill zone that surrounds the line of contact.
Defence Blog wrote that France’s focus on Ukraine’s battlefield lessons reflects a shift across NATO ground forces to reassess doctrine, protection, and fire support in today’s drone-filled battlefields. According to Malyasov, the French army described Ukraine as a laboratory of modern land warfare.
This is almost the exact wording used by Ukraine’s former deputy defense minister Dmytro Klimenkov in a 2024 interview, when he said that Western allies are watching this “laboratory” for how warfare in the future will look.
