France announces they have launched their first armed drone strike during their operations in Mali

A French armed drone. France 24/AFP.

France has announced that they have launched their first lethal drone strike in an operation in Mali. France 24. The strike came after France killed 33 Jihadists during a rescue mission there. Seven additional Jihadists were killed by the drone in a follow up operation. France had just recently announced that their drone force was active and they have three drones stationed in the region. 

My Comment:

Just a quick update to yesterday's post about France's operations in Mali. I don't have too much more to add but it does look like France is bringing up the pressure on these insurgents. They have killed 40 of them in just a few days, rescued to hostages and captured a large number of weapons and vehicles. This is a pretty big victory for them, even before the drone strike. 

What really gets me though is that France hasn't developed drone technology until this late in the game. I guess I just thought that they were in the drone game quite awhile ago, but apparently this is their first time using armed drones. 

It's also clear that they are using US technology. The article said that the drone was a MQ-9 Reaper which was purchased from the Untied States. They have had these drones since 2013 so I wonder why it took them so long to use them offensively. My guess is that they may have had to use their own missiles for the drones and that takes time to develop. 

I don't have much else to add to this one, I just thought it was very interesting that France is finally using armed drones. It seems they are very late to this particular game and it might change how they fight in Mali. I don't think it is a game changer or anything but I do find it funny.