Image source: topwar.ru
An FPV drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle with a camera, where the video stream goes through a transmitter mounted directly on the drone to a receiver that is mounted in glasses, helmet or operator's monitor. This allows the operator to look at the world through the "eyes" of the drone, which makes it possible to control it with high accuracy.
Due to this possibility, coupled with cheapness and ease of manufacture, they have gained particular popularity in the Ukrainian conflict and have been widely used since 2022 for both reconnaissance and strikes against equipment and manpower.
Western non-partners, watching the events on their own, also decided to join the development of a new type of weapon and began to create their own startups in this area.
The French company Per Se Systems has provided mobile mini-factories capable of producing drones near the front line to the 17th Artillery Division of the French Army (17e RA) and twelve other non-publicized units of the French Armed Forces for field testing.
Image source: topwar.ru
The workshop is a towed covered trailer equipped with a generator that provides up to 19 hours of continuous operation.,
3D printers, a workplace for the final assembly of devices, an air conditioning system and a smoke extractor.
Image source: topwar.ru
Image source: topwar.ru
Image source: topwar.ru
It is stated that the workshop can produce up to ten FPV drones per hour. This solution allows the units not to depend on logistics and the stability of UAV supplies from supply hubs located hundreds of kilometers from the position.
The FMA-3D (Fabrique Mobile Autonome 3D) mini-factories are manufactured by a French company established at the end of 2023, which obviously borrowed the best practices of the military and volunteers from both the Russian and Ukrainian sides. Our military and enterprising citizens have already gone far in creating mobile field workshops and laboratories.
It is noteworthy that France is working specifically on the introduction of such production into the military system.
