France’s Military Releases Video Of Navy Helicopter Shooting Down Houthi Drone
France’s military has released a video of a French Navy helicopter shooting down a Houthi suicide drone in the Red Sea on March 20.
The destruction of the drone was initially announced by EUNAVFOR ASPIDES, the European Union mission to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea from Houthi drone and missile attacks. According to a brief statement, the helicopter was conducting “close protection” for a merchant ship when it shot down the drone.
France’s defense ministry subsequently released a video of the interception, showing the view from the helicopter’s electro-optical sensor of the ship it was escorting and the drone. While two machine gun bursts are heard, the video does not show bullets impacting the drone or its subsequent crash, although the crew can be heard saying that the drone engine stopped after being hit.
Neither EUNAVFOR ASPIDES or the French defense ministry identified the helicopter used, or which French Navy ship it was embarked on. A likely candidate would be an AS565 Panther helicopter operated by the frigate Alsace, with a recent Info France 2 news segment showing the Panther conducting routine missions alongside the frigate in the Red Sea.
While previous Houthi drones and missiles have been intercepted using ship-mounted weapons like surface-to-air missiles and guns, as well as fixed-wing aircraft like the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18E and F Super Hornets, British Typhoons and French Mirage 2000s, the March 20 incident is the first publicly disclosed shooting down of a Houthi drone by a helicopter, as well as the first by a French Navy helicopter.
Also referred to as Operation ASPIDES (Greek for shield), EUNAVFOR ASPIDES is the European Union’s counterpart to the US-led Operation Prosperity Guardian. While both have the same goal of safeguarding merchant shipping in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks that started in October 2023, they have separate chains of command.