Secret weapons and new military equipment unveiled by French Army

During the military parade for the French National Day on July 14, 2019, French armed forces have presented secret weapons as well as latest military equipment that will enter in service. The French Defense Industry in collaboration with the DGA (Direction générale de l'armement) French Government Defense procurement and technology agency develop and manage together different military programs, to provide latest generations and new innovations of weapons and military equipment for the French armed forces.

French armed forces have presented secret weapons and new military equipment during the Bastille Day military parade on July 14, 2019. (Picture source Print Screen Youtube video Elysée)

Stamina robot:

The Stamina is wheeled UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle) designed and developed by the Franco-German Research Institute of St-Louis. the Stamina is fitted with a navigation system to perform autonomous missions thanks to the use of an on-board camera and pictures database defining the waypoints of the road mission. The STAMINA is a low-cost image processing technology that allows autonomous tracking of routes without GPS.

Colossus Robot from SHARK Robotics: 

The Colossus is a versatile remote-controlled robot designed to support firefighters and first-responders in dangerous missions. With a high-pressure water cannon and powerful all-terrain treads, it can help extinguish fires, clear away debris, and evacuate victims.

The Colossus robot is designed and manufactured by the French Company SHARK Robotics to perform different types of missions including fire extinguishing, transport of equipment of wounded people and reconnaissance missions using HD day/night or thermal camera.

The Colossus robot is actually deployed with the Paris Firefighter Brigade (BSPP) & with many other French or foreign Regional Services of Fires & Rescues. The Colossus has a total weight of 550 kg.

Nerva-XX from Nexter Systems:

Nexter Robotics, a subdivision of the French Company Nexter Systems presents three UGV Unmanned Ground Vehicles including the NERVA-S, NERVA-LG and the NERVA-XX.

Nerva-XX is a multi-purpose medium-size robot designed to perform reconnaissance and support missions. This UGV can be fitted with different types of equipment including night vision camera, gunshot detection system, chemical detection system. a total of 15 accessories is available for this robot.

The Nerva-XX has a length of 47 cm, a width of 42 cm and height of 18 cm, and weighs 12.2 kg with two batteries with a maximum payload of 15 kg. The NERVA-XX can reach a speed of up to 5 km/h and has an endurance from 150 to 240 minutes.

Nerva-S and Nerva-LG from Nexter Systems:

The Nerva S is a small-sized UGV from the Nerva family, more compact than the Nerva LG. This two-wheeled robot weighing 2 kg can be used both indoors and outdoors operations. The equipment includes a high-resolution day/IR camera and a microphone. The control range is from 200 to 500 m.

The NERVA LG is a mini, multi-purpose unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) which has been designed to perform CBRNe (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives) detection, reconnaissance, observation, surveillance, counter-IED (improvised explosive devices) for route clearance, smoke generator, fire-fighting, transportation, and other civil security missions.

The NERVA LG has a length of 350 mm, a width of 310 mm and a height of 150 mm, and weighs 4.5kg. The NERVA LG robot can reach speeds up to 15km/h and has an endurance of two hours.

Barakuda robot from SHARK Robotics:

The French Company French company Shark Robotics presented its mule robot Barakuda.

The Barakuda is a versatile mule robot designed to work in risk areas (it can be dropped from air). This robot assists men to carry equipment or casualties, to make information readings, to allow the vision day/night and thermal thanks to video equipment mounted on the robot.

With its four 3000 Watts engines, Barakuda has a carrying capacity of 1000 kg and a traction capacity of 2000 kg, while it weighs only400 kg. It has an autonomy of 10 hours and can go up to 15 km/h.

Exoskeleton MAWSHI:

The UPRISE™ Tactical Exoskeleton is developed and produced by Canadian-based Company Mawashi. It is a passive system without batteries, it was developed considering the evidence of injuries occurred downrange in the last few years. Designed to reduce skeletal muscular injuries, UPRISE™ is an acronym for Ultralight Passive Ruggedized Integrated Soldier Exoskeleton.

The UPRISE™ mimics the human form, with a flexible spine and sliding belt which combine to offer a great deal of freedom of movement. The exoskeleton is padded and fit is fine-tuned via Boa dial at several locations on the legs.

The Harness also integrates with body armor as well as other loads such as packs. Additionally, they’ve demonstrated that gear normally worn on the War Belt, such as holsters, can be attached to the exoskeleton. No matter what is attached to the system, the entire weight of the exoskeleton is borne by a plate which is inserted like an insole into the wearer’s footwear. In fact, UPRISE™ transfers 50-80% of the wearer’s load right to the ground. Mawashi intends it for use on three to seven-day missions.

NERO F5 Drone Gun from MC2 Technologies:

The NERO F5 is developed and manufactured by the French Company MC2 Technologies. It is a microwave jammer capable of disrupting and neutralizing all communication protocols used by drones. The product is based on a portable rifle offering great flexibility for operators in terms of detection, tracking and neutralization.

This system makes it possible to use jamming in a timely manner, at a specific location. What makes this possible are the directional antennas inside the rifle. The user has to aim for the drone to neutralize it.

The NEZRO F5 can jam drones at a maximum range of 2.5 km. It has a total weight of around 7 kg and 2 hours of autonomy.

Drone Gun Tactical from DroneShield: 

DroneGun Tactical provides a safe countermeasure against a wide range of drone models. It is manufactured by the Australian Company DroneShield. It allows for controlled management of drone payload such as explosives, with no damage to common drones models or surrounding environment due to the drones generally responding via a vertical controlled landing on the spot, or returning back to the starting point (assisting to track the operator).

The Drone Gun has a length of 143 cm and 20 cm of width, weighing more about 7.3 kg. It has an effective range from 1 to 2 km and an operating time of 2 hours using two rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries.

Griffon 6x6 multirole armored vehicle:

The Griffon is a new generation of Multi-Role Armoured Vehicle based on 6x6 military truck chassis. The vehicle was developed for the French Army under the program EBMR Scorpion (Engin Blindé Multi-Rôle - Armoured Multi-roles Vehicles). The vehicle was designed and developed by a consortium of French Companies including Nexter Systems, Renault Trucks Defense, and Thales.

The Griffon VBMR is equipped with the latest technology of sight and day/night vision equipment. The standard equipment of the Griffon will include new command, control and networking system.

The Griffon is fitted with a remote weapon system manufactured by the French Company ARQUUS, that can be armed with a 7.62mm or 12.7mm heavy machine gun or a 40mm automatic grenade launcher.

MRZR ATV and Quad MV850 from Polaris Defense:

The MRZR is a new off-road vehicle developed by the American Company Polaris Defense, a division of Polaris Industries. The Polaris MRZR 4 vehicle incorporates a tubular frame and a conventional layout with the engine in the front, crew seats in the middle and cargo compartment at the rear. The roll cage can be collapsed without tools to reduce vehicle height.

The MRZR offers seating for four troops and can accommodate up to six infantrymen when fitted with two optional rearward-facing seats on the cargo bed. It has a weight of 852 kg and can carry a maximum payload of 680 kg. It can reach a maximum speed of 96 km/h.

The Quad MV850 is an LT-ATV Lightweight Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle also manufactured by the American Company Polaris. It is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a single seat that is straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control.

The Polaris Quad MV850 is designed to carry up to 385 kg of military-grade payload through the most extreme off-road terrain. Delivering off-road capability, durability and tactical features developed with feedback from operators around the world. It can run at a maximum speed of 80 km/h.

MV850 Quad from Polaris Defense presented at the Bastille Day military parade on July 14, 2019. (Picture source Print Screen Youtube video Elysée)

K9 Vision Camera

The K9 Vision is an onboard camera mounted on glasses for a dog. Video and audio can be automatically recorded and transmitted up to 300 m.

Scorpio pickup vehicle drone launcher:

The Scorpio is light Toyota pickup able to launch drone thanks to a ramp mounted at the rear of the vehicle

NX70 micro drome from Novadem:

The NX70 is micro surveillance and reconnaissance Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drone, designed and manufactured by the French Company Novadem. Recently, the French Army has ordered 50 drones.

The NX70 has a weight of only 1 kg. Its flight endurance can reach up to 45 minutes and it has a range of more than 3 km.

Flyboard from Zapata:

At the military parade of French Bastille Day 2019, the Zapata Flyboard has demonstrated its capacity to be used by soldier armed with an individual weapon as an assault rifle, with a flying demonstration at the front of the Presidential tribune. The Flyboard could be the future of modern armed forces to create flying soldier.

Black Hornet micro drone: 

The Black Hornet is a military micro unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Prox Dynamics AS of Norway and is now in service with the French Special Forces. The Black Hornet PRS Personal Reconnaissance System is the world’s smallest operational ISR (Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) platform.

The Back Hornet features a rotor diameter of 123 mm and a length of 168mm, the UAV weighs no more than 33 gr. The latest version of the Black Hornet is equipped with two electro-optic (EO) cameras and a fused thermal LED light night imager. It allows the soldiers to capture live videos and still images by expanding their visual range.

The Black Hornet micro UAV is electrically powered by replaceable batteries. It can fly at a maximum speed of approximately 22 km/h and offers a flight endurance of up to 25 minutes and a range of 2 km.

Exoskeleton from Safran:

Sagem (Safran) has signed a partnership agreement to develop exoskeleton technologies with the Percro Laboratory of Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, Italy. An exoskeleton is an independent electromechanical structure or sort of external skeleton, that can be worn by a human. It can increase a person's physical capabilities in terms of strength, speed and precision.

An exoskeleton could be likened to a sort of mechanical armor. Sensors are fitted to the structure and record the movements of the person wearing it. The information collected is transmitted to the machine's "muscles", which are actually electric motors that reproduce the person's movement, but with increased power. For an exoskeleton to operate correctly, all the motors have to be synchronized together. Working on the exoskeleton's general balance optimizes its "postural recognition" capacity, i.e. the machine's ability to interpret the position the user wants to adopt.

Shock Absorber vest:

The protected vest "Shock Absorber" provides ballistic protection using an adjustable pressure air bubble system that absorbs and distributes impact energy.