France Demonstrating Leadership Towards HAPS Incorporation into Military Doctrine

Military planning has too often adhered to the following logic: we purchase technology currently available and structure the contours of our doctrines around these technologies. In this flawed logic, the limits of technologies drive the limits of doctrines.

Ideally, the better way to do things is for doctrine to pave the way for technology rather than the inverse. Future-looking doctrine should be put in place which can then be used to signal to industry the capabilities required.

With this in mind, a recent Colloquia on High-Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS), which took place at L’Ecole Militaire, on the subject of creating doctrines for the use of HAPS by the French military was particularly encouraging.

General Thierry Burkhard, Joint Chief of the French Defense, has already ordered to the joint-staff to study both the protection of and the use of the high-altitude level for defense purposes. The priority of this study is securing French sovereignty through the deployment of anticipated HAPS capabilities.

The participation of key leaders from the domains of air, space and sea, headed by General Stéphane Mille, Chief of Staff of the Air and Space Force, is a powerful signal that the French military is invested in building a future-looking doctrine for the use of HAPS.

Organized by the Center for Strategic Aerospace Studies (CESA), this?Colloquium?was an important first step towards writing the use of the relatively untested HAPS into operational doctrine. Entitled, ‘From the Sky to Space,’ it brought together Air and Space Force military officials, aeronautical and space industry representatives, and researchers to answer key questions on the ‘higher airspace’ and French defense strategy.

In addition to General Mille, Representatives of the French military included, among others, General Philippe Morales, Commander of Air Defense and Air Operations, General Philippe Adam, Space Commander, Major General of the Air and Space Force Frederic Parisot, Brigadier General Pascal Legai, Director of the European Union Satellite Centre, and Bertrand Le Meur, Director of Defense Strategy, Forecasting, and Counter-Proliferation at the Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy.

On the industry and research side, Thales Alenia Space CEO Hervé Derrey, Dassault Aviation President of Space Programs Marc Valès, Airbus’ Senior Vice-President for Space Sales & Marketing Stéphane Vesval, Stratolia Founder and CEO Louis Hart-Davis, and Director of the Foundation for Strategic Research Xavier Pasco each attended and spoke on the advancements in HAPS development.

This unusually cross-disciplinary and high-profile event demonstrates the faith that military leaders in France are placing in such systems. General Mille?explains?the reasoning behind this novel doctrinal investment:

‘Until now, the very high altitude was not exploited or very little, but with the multiplication of projects for atmospheric balloons, very high altitude drones, hypersonic gliders or satellites in low orbit, it is necessary to reflect on this now and avoid a potential capability gap tomorrow, (…) We still have a few months to think about before knowing what we want to do, before validating a strategy and rolling out a doctrine. We have a little time ahead of us, but we have to get down to it!’

The momentum behind this new doctrine is the avoidance of a capability gap. To avoid this gap in the near-future, doctrine is being formulated for military uses of HAPS now. The capabilities of these systems that military planners are seeking to leverage are intelligence, telecommunications, and electronic warfare.

In 2019, Admiral Christophe Prazuck, Chief of Staff of the French Navy, speculated that HAPS could serve these ends in a dynamic fashion. Envisioning a HAPS accompanying a moving naval fleet, he emphasized the system’s Remote Observation capabilities, maneuverability, and stronger and more reliable signals relative to satellite-based systems due to its closer position to the Earth.

Several on-going projects offer evidence that such capabilities may come to exist. These include Thales Alenia Space’s ambitious airship project Stratobus, Airbus’ Zephyr, and the European Defence Fund’s EuroHAPS. Airbus believes that Zephyr can be service-ready, along with military requirements, by the end of 2024. More conservatively, Thales Alenia Space estimates that Stratobus will be service-ready by 2030.

The critical point is that France’s future-looking military doctrine will be ready, and the Colloquium was a key step in this direction. Bringing together some of the highest-ranking members of the French military to identify the core challenges and goals in the ‘higher airspace’ is a powerful signal of this evolving doctrine’s substance. It is, no less, a strong message to the HAPS industry that the French military will know exactly what it wants to acquire from them in the near future. Chairman of the French National Defense Commission concluded the meeting, reinforcing the level of defense decision-makers engaging with the potential of the stratosphere. He said:

‘To be interested in operations at very high altitude is to recall that war is a chameleon that varies and grows to the rhythm of the increasing complexity of our societies and technological advances: the extension of the field of conflict is a reality that our defense policy must anticipate and support.’

A link to the impressive symposium’s programme can be found?here, and video of the proceedings is available?here.

Lieutenant General Olivier Tramond

Former Director of the French Army Doctrine Center

RAIN Defense + AI Advisory Board