Sometimes life imitates art, and sometimes life imitates a series of stupid spy movie cliches: a briefcase detailing a joint French/UK military drone was stolen in Paris. A briefcase! A briefcase full of secret documents. Christ, man.
The briefcase in question, belonging to an executive from major French military contractor Dassault (French for “The Assault”), was packed with documents marked ‘Defence – Confidential’, the UK Telegraph reports. And how did such precious intel, detailing a major defence initiative between two world powers, get nicked?
Some dude walked away with it. Really, the BBC says: “the briefcase was stolen when a senior Dassault Aviation official buying a Eurostar rail ticket went to the help of a colleague who was being bothered by a young man. When the official returned to retrieve his case, it had disappeared.” Correct — he walked away to deal with a “young man”, leaving the briefcase behind. The briefcase filled with documents marked ‘Defence – Confidential’. Although cops are allegedly calling it a “random” crime, what are the odds this one briefcase — located in Europe’s busiest train station — was targeted by accident?
Not high. The briefcase possibly included plans for a collaborative Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) drone, similar to America’s infamous missile-spittin’ RQ-1 Predator. We don’t know. But whoever has that briefcase sure knows. [BBC and Telegraph]
Photo: Stanislav Komogorov/Shutterstock