Recently, in an interview with Le Figaro, Air Force Gen. Jean-Paul Paloméros, former Chief of Staff of the French Air and Space Force before becoming NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation (SACT) in Norfolk, USA, advocated using ‘a breakthrough strategy, learning from the asymmetrical and technological approach of the Ukrainians who changed the art of war’.[1] There is no shortage of successful start-ups in France, including in the defence sector. Their problem is to exist, if not to survive, in a world where the major market players intend to reserve the exclusive rights to budgets. As a result, only large projects are supported. To have a chance of breaking through, they have three choices: either to be incorporated and dissolved into a large group, at the risk of disappearing with their flagship product, or to go bankrupt and be bought out at a low price by predators armed with their capital who are on the lookout, or, last but not least, to emigrate. There are dozens of examples we could mention. We may be far from taking into account the real needs of our soldiers in the field, who are used to suffering when it comes to budgets. If the government intends to facilitate the brain drain, it has no choice but to continue along this suicidal path. Editor’s note
Interview with Julien Fabre, CEO of Fab’One -Kaptrek — Paris, March 13, 2025 —
Table of Contents
The Ukrainians have turned the art of war upside down in more ways than one.
It seems that nothing is impossible for the Ukrainians! From the start of the war that Russia unleashed three years ago, students and young engineers have thrown themselves into the battle with innovations, while the population has chipped in to provide suitable resources for those at the front. We have a few drones in France that cost millions of euros. They are certainly capable of technical feats, but given their number and the resources needed to operate them, we realised that it had become urgent to revisit our priorities. Better late than never!
On the ground, the Ukrainians are fighting in the trenches and with drones ‘made in Ukraine’ have achieved feats unimaginable for the armies of NATO and even the United States.We saw it again that same day, after yesterday’s Riyadh meeting between the American and Ukrainian delegations, hearing the Americans wanting cooperation with the Ukrainians at all costs in order to acquire resources that are virtually non-existent at home.
Connectivity requirements are a priority.
ON was able to measure this with Starlink. Among the priorities in the field, as Julien Fabre points out, ‘it is necessary to understand in depth the needs in terms of connectivity and operational coordination in order to identify the levers capable of significantly increasing added value in the field.’
Julien Fabre is a young engineer from Franche-Comté, a great sportsman, who in 2018 had the idea of making a watch integrating the functionalities of several small devices, all ‘innovative solutions for GPS navigation, tracking, piloting and physiological and sports monitoring, intended for adventurers and outdoor professionals. The objective was to provide a robust and autonomous tool to guarantee safety and improve the practice of outdoor sports in extreme environments...’
Identify needs clearly
Like so many others, convinced that there was a clearly identified need, Julien Fabre and his team of six are seeking support to finance the research and development of the product as well as its pre-industrialisation. ‘Fab’One collaborated closely with design offices and outsourced industrial partners to design a completely sovereign hardware and software ecosystem. Rather than integrating existing technologies from Asia, the project was developed from a blank sheet of paper, guaranteeing total control of the architecture and performance of the system.’ Let’s be clear, in France!
Julien Fabre: « A pre-sale campaign confirmed market interest, with 100 units sold in just one week. This success confirmed the attractiveness of the product and provided valuable information for the next stage of the roadmap for the product’s commercialisation.
Le concept Kaptrek Outdoor Pilot permettait déjà : Un suivi en temps réel des équipes via GPS ; une gestion des performances physiologiques ; une navigation sur des fonds de carte variés; communication par la voix et messages textes, et le pilotage d’objets connectés (GoPro et drones)….
The Ukrainians have revolutionised the art of war in more ways than one.
The project accelerated in 2023 with a notable presence at major international trade shows such as ISPO Munich, CES Las Vegas and VivaTech Paris. At the same time, ‘a European distribution network has been gradually built up with a view to the commercial launch of the product. To support this dynamic, a new fundraising campaign of 800,000 euros was prepared to finance the industrialisation and commercial deployment of the solution. »
The fundraising campaign, which was theoretically completed, could not be launched ’due to a disagreement with some of the investors. This blockage prevented Fab’One from securing all the funds necessary for the industrialisation and commercial deployment of the consumer product. A failure that illustrates the structural difficulty of raising capital in France for a consumer hardware project, a sector often considered too risky by investors, who favour highly scalable and high-margin SaaS (Software as a Service) models.
Faced with this funding deadlock, the company had to adapt its organisation and reduce its operational team to just the two co-founders. Nevertheless, this context made it possible to ‘take a step back and analyse market signals in depth in order to bounce back better. The strong interest shown by the defence, security and industrial sectors at trade shows proved to be a major strategic lever. Although distinct from the initial outdoor world, these environments shared similar requirements in terms of product resilience, sovereignty and system interoperability, while offering more structuring development prospects.
This realisation led Fab’One to initiate a strategic pivot towards Kaptrek Pro Pilot, an evolution designed to meet the expectations of these new markets, where hardware innovation benefits from a more favourable investment framework.
The pivot to B2B: Kaptrek Pro Pilot
Julien Fabre: ‘In 2024, the transition to B2B was achieved by directly reaching out to players in five strategic verticals: defence, security, heavy industry (mining, nuclear, oil, chemicals), emergency services and medicine. The objective was clear: to gain an in-depth understanding of connectivity and operational coordination needs in order to identify the levers capable of significantly increasing added value in the field.
The defence sector is the primary sector concerned
This exploratory work gave rise to numerous exchanges with experts and operational staff, detailed interviews and several attempts at experimentation with organisations in these sectors.
One thing quickly became clear: while all these industries shared needs in terms of monitoring, communication and securing interventions, it was the defence sector that generated the most concrete and structured requests.Unlike other markets where innovation was perceived as a performance gain, the armed forces expressed an immediate need, directly subject to potential budgets dedicated to improving their operational capacities.
In this environment, existing solutions showed ‘significant limitations: a dependence on civilian technologies (Android, iOS), posing risks in terms of cybersecurity and continuity of supply in the event of a crisis or conflict.
A failure to adapt to the military’s requirements in terms of robustness, ergonomics and performance, and finally a rigidity of software solutions, making it difficult to integrate them with existing tactical systems.
The development to take account of the requirements of our armed forces was both to design sovereign equipment, designed for critical environments and guaranteeing a high level of resilience.
These factors led to the strategic decision to focus efforts on the development of a platform, Kaptrek Pro Pilot Defense, specifically designed to meet the expectations of the armed forces and specialised units. ‘Total independence from civilian OS, ensuring enhanced cybersecurity and complete control of the technological chain, interoperability with existing military networks, enabling smooth integration with existing infrastructures, software modularity, making it possible to integrate advanced tactical functionalities adapted to the specific needs of units in the field.’
Julien Fabre’s objective in meeting the needs of our elite units deployed in the field is to establish himself ‘by offering tailored solutions for operational personnel, for whom connectivity and real-time coordination have become strategic imperatives.’
For Julien Fabre, the armed forces and intervention units, including the GIGN and the RAID, must ‘be able to geolocate their teams, exchange critical information and monitor the physiological state of their operators on missions.
Existing solutions are often based on modified civilian equipment or proprietary systems that are not very flexible. It was therefore necessary to develop a capability platform combining sovereign hardware and an evolving software ecosystem. Its modular design allows for the integration of different tactical applications and adaptation to the specificities of each mission.
Julien Fabre — Photo © Fab’One —
This is the rationale behind Kaptrek Pro Pilot Defense, which ‘must be independent of Android, while being interoperable with existing systems. It must be robust and secure, designed for the field with dedicated electronics. It must be modular, capable of integrating third-party software and responding to several use cases’ (special forces, conventional units, emergency services, industry).
Real-time geolocation and tactical navigation
The key features planned for this system are real-time geolocation with position visualisation on an interactive map, Blue Force Tracking; tactical navigation: Access to different base maps, routes, offline mode, physiological monitoring: integrated, remote or connected sensors measuring heart rate, oxygenation and other vital parameters; secure communication: text messaging (pre-entered messages) and data transmission via a network. Finally, Cloud connectivity for data upload to a secure and dedicated web application for real-time monitoring by command.’
Integration and Development
To achieve this, Julien Fabre explains, it was necessary to organise ‘an evolving ecosystem, Kaptrek Pro Pilot Defence, requiring specific software portability and development to be fully operational according to the needs of the armed forces, naturally capable of integrating existing tactical applications. »
Our Bisontin, true to the motto of the Franche-Comté ‘Comtois, surrender! Nay, by my faith!’, has set out to take on the neighbouring armies interested in this need highlighted by the war in Ukraine.
And in France? Perhaps an answer at the next Salon de Sofins…
Interview by Joël-François Dumont
[1] ‘For Europe, it’s now or never’: Quoting Xavier Tutelman, Laure Mandeville asks General Paloméros ‘whether we should take inspiration from the Ukrainians, who have used technological breakthroughs to organise a ramp-up of a low-cost defence…’ The general’s response: ‘It must be acknowledged
that the Ukrainians have made progress in this area by bringing intelligence gathering down to the level of the combatant, in association with a drone. So, as you said, it’s time to create a ‘low cost’, or at least a fast-moving dynamic. There is a lot of imagination and innovation in our start-ups and large groups. So we have to go for it. That’s what I call a war economy, that moment when we synergise all the skills, resources and brains to achieve a specific goal.’
See also :
- « Augmenter significativement la valeur ajoutée sur le terrain avec Kaptrek » — Interview avec Jean Fabre — (2025-0312) —
- « Mit Kaptrek die Wertschöpfung vor Ort deutlich steiger » — Interview mit Jean Fabre — (2025-0312) —
