An unidentified drone has been spotted over a naval communications center near Paris. A police helicopter deployed to the scene failed to intercept the intruder which had been surveying the strategically sensitive site.
The small drone made a total of three flights over the
Sainte-Assise command and control centre over the weekend in yet
another occurrence in a series of similar drones incidents in
France in recent weeks, Le Parisien reported.
The sensitive facility, guarded day and night, features very high
antennas – some over 200 meters high – and a powerful transmitter
that ensures communication with French submarines at sea.
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into France’s nuclear air space
Police said on Sunday, that only two of the drone’s flights were
recorded, prompting a police helicopter dispatch which failed to
intercept the drone – or what may have been two lookalike drones.
The triangular grey
machine, about a meter and a half wide, was first spotted on
Saturday above the D 346 highway near Cesson-la-Foret flying
towards the base. Then, the drone “flew over the center of
Sainte-Assise three times,” the anonymous Le Parisien source
said.
Police reinforcements were called in after the first reports of a
suspicious UAV, but failed to intercept the same or a
“similar” drone when it returned for another flyover. An
official at local police headquarters told the French publication
that, this was “the first time” they had faced “this
type of situation.”
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Yet another source told Le Parisien that similar drone incidents
had previously happened at the Sainte-Assise facility, claiming
that one of the devices even crashed at the site.
Since last October at least 60 drone overflights have been
recorded over sensitive sites in France such as nuclear power
plants, or the city of Paris, according to the Interior Minister,
Bernard Cazeneuve.
In January, suspicious drones had reportedly been detected
several times near the military site of de l’Île Longue, home
port of four nuclear submarines. The aviation police (GTA) is now
responsible for the investigation of the latest incident.