A vedette is a mounted sentry or picket, who has the function of bringing information, giving signals or warnings of danger, etc., to a main body of troops.^{[1][lower-alpha 1]} In modern terms, the soldiers who man listening-posts are the equivalent of vedettes.

Navies use the term vedette to refer to a small scouting or patrol boat.

The term has also been used for specific naval vessels (see USS Vedette), and a class of flying boat (see Canadian Vickers Vedette).

All around Salisbury Plain in southern England, the roads connecting the plain with the surrounding countryside feature brick-built guard-posts, staffed by security officers whenever there is military activity beyond such points. They are known as vedettes, and each one is named for a local geographic feature.^[2]

The Gardjola is a prominent guard tower on Maltese forts in Malta and an example of a vedette.^[3][4][5] It may be referred to in French as an échauguette.^[6]