Eurosatory 2018 exhibition is offering dynamic demonstrations where the French army can show how it responds to threats. Special Forces are participating the 2018 edition with their technologies and their modified vehicles to play a realistic reconnaissance mission that ends with the death or the capture of the enemy as quickly and discreetly as possible.
A French Army Special Forces Command's VPS light tactical vehicle at Eurosatory 2018
The scene played by the SF is a typical PATSAS (Patrouille Special Air Service) mission usually fulfilled by the 3rd companie of the 1st RPIMA. These elite soldiers follow the tradition of the british SAS that was created in North Africa during WWII, the british men driving trough the desert with their jeep equipped with big machine guns to succeed in their lightening raids. During a PATSAS, that is normally done by night, the teams are dropped behind the enemy lines to find a group of enemy soldiers that has been spotted and could pose a threat.
After having analyzed the threat, by numerous technologies from the camera to the sensor, the silent commando that approached by foot transmit the information to their comrades who are ready to reduce the threat to zero. Directly, and you need to imagine a dark night, with all the night goggles and everything, the long and silent moment of reconnaissance and intelligence is passing to a noisy and violent action that does not last more that thirty-seconds. The two PATSAS vehicle - made by Arquus - come from nowhere and go straight to the enemy who is surprised and then, is not able to respond fire.
During the show, two ennemies are killed by the 12.7 machine gun or the HK416 fires when the last one surrenders to the special operators. The driver and the machine gunner stay in the vehicle to be able to protect and leave fastly, with one vehicle going in front of the foot soldiers and the other one staying in the back. When the french paratroopers have checked the enemy bodies and unloaded the weapons, they go back with the prisoner to their vehicles and they leave as they came - in fury - to a secret and safe place where they will wait to be exfiltred.
The "french SAS" that was founded in Great-Britain too has also the same motto : "Who dares wins". In real operations, these men dare, that's why they are called to win.
