France’s 68th African Artillery Regiment is reorganizing its artillery batteries to increase survivability on the battlefield, where drones and counter-battery fire pose a constant threat.
The batteries of 155 mm Caesar self-propelled howitzers are being reorganized from two sections of four guns each into three sections of two guns each. The regiment’s total number of Caesar systems is not changing for now. The Atlas fire-control system is used to coordinate the dispersed guns while retaining the ability to mass fires.
At the same time, the regiment has created a dedicated artillery support section. It identifies firing positions, prepares ammunition sites, sets up decoys and equips firing positions with protective metal structures that Caesar howitzers can reverse into. Defense News reported this.
Before carrying out fire missions, Caesar howitzers will remain in concealed positions that the regiment’s commander calls “opacity bubbles.” Their purpose is to reduce the visibility of the equipment and the emissions that could reveal its location.
The 68th Regiment tested the new organizational model at the Canjuers military camp in southern France and later during the large-scale Orion 2026 exercise. Based on the tests, the military refined the structure, protective structures and decoys.
The first Caesar battery is scheduled to permanently transition to the new structure next year, followed by the remaining batteries.
The regiment says the changes are linked in part to lessons from the war in Ukraine, where persistent drone surveillance increases the risk of artillery positions being detected and targeted by counter-battery fire.
French forces are also changing their observation and coordination units. Instead of relatively autonomous teams, they are moving toward teams that combine armored vehicles with ground, radar and drone capabilities.
The equipment used by the 68th Regiment includes Caesar howitzers, MEPAC mortars, the Thales-produced Murin ground-surveillance radar and Delair’s DT46 reconnaissance drone.
