France Developing System to Link Sensors and Weapons for Faster Battlefield Strikes

France is developing a kill web system to connect battlefield sensors and weapon systems for faster decision-making and firing, Gen. Olivier Coquet said Sunday at the Eurosatory defense show in Paris. Gen.

Olivier Coquet heads the French Army’s technical section STAT. He said the kill web will initially be built around France’s Atlas artillery-weapon system provided by Thales, with plans to expand it to enable dynamic targeting. Gen.

Olivier Coquet said the kill web will be part of the broader Arcadia AI-powered battlefield command and control structure. “Just like the Ukrainians are doing we want to set up a kill web as quickly as possible,” he said. “In other words, shorten the sensor-to-effector loops so we can fire faster and make decisions faster.

Gen. Philippe de Montenon, commander of the French land forces and operations, said Arcadia’s purpose is interoperability between allied command systems. “This is a major challenge we need to resolve in the very short term, ensuring that what we call our combat clouds can communicate with one another,” he said.

The kill web is similar to Ukraine’s Delta system, a battlefield awareness network built on drones, satellites, artillery and command nodes that allows forces to engage targets through multiple pathways rather than a traditional linear kill chain. France has been exploring the kill web concept with its Scorpion program of digitally connected armored vehicles. Gen.

Olivier Coquet described Arcadia as a combination of multiple programs, including the kill web.