Suspected drones seen over French military intelligence base

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By Louise  Rasmussen

PARIS  -  Suspected drones were seen flying above a French military intelligence base on three separate nights last month, the French Air and Space Force said on Tuesday, in the latest possible incursions over sensitive sites in the country.

French prosecutors last week launched an investigation into drones that are suspected to have flown over a nuclear submarine base on the Atlantic coast. 

Drone flights, mostly of unknown origin, have been disrupting Europe's airspace in the past few months. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called the incursions "hybrid warfare". Russia regularly denies accusations it is responsible.

The first drone sightings over the Creil military base in northern France occurred on November 26, the French Air and Space Force said in a statement. The Creil base houses an intelligence training centre, Colonel Thomas Bardin, who assumed command there last year, told French daily Le Parisien.

A unit responded to the suspected November 26 drones, the statement said, without specifying whether it neutralized or merely disrupted them. A specialized helicopter only arrived after the drones were gone, it added.   

Difficult weather conditions meant it was impossible to confirm whether suspected sightings on the nights of November 28 and 30 were drones or commercial aircraft, the statement said. 

"This sensitive military site has suffered no damage and remains fully operational for all its missions ... An investigation is under way. Any link with foreign provocations is, at this stage, premature."

 (Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Gabriel Stargardter, Alexandra Hudson // REUTERS)