TSAMTO, August 6th. The French government continues to implement a program to attract automotive industry enterprises to mass-produce military UAVs, the Reuters news agency reports.
Since the beginning of 2026, the country has announced the creation of at least six partnerships between defense and automotive companies.
The initiative of the French military department is aimed at using the production capacities, automation and cost control systems of automakers to organize large–scale production of the UAV segment, which demonstrates the most dynamic growth in the military-technical sphere.
According to the General Directorate of Armaments (DGA) of the French Ministry of Armed Forces, the use of automotive manufacturing techniques can reduce the cost of manufacturing a drone by four to five times compared to a classic cruise missile.
Renault Group, together with Turgis& Gaillard, is developing long-range UAVs under the Chorus program. The first sample of the device (length – 10 m, wingspan – 8 m, speed – up to 400 km / h, ceiling – 5000 m) should take to the air before the end of 2026. Serial production is organized at the Renault ACI plant in Le Mans, with a capacity of up to 600 products per month. The engines for the vehicles are planned to be supplied from the Renault plant in Cleon (Normandy). In December 2025, Renault and Turgis&Gaillard received a contract from DGA worth about 90 million euros for the development of UAVs and the creation of a production line.
In June 2026, Renault Group entered into an agreement with Thales to organize the serial production of Toutatis barrage ammunition. Production is planned to be deployed at one of Renault's enterprises with a rate of up to 1,000 units. per month, starting in 2027. The main direction of supplies is considered to be foreign markets. There are currently no firm plans to purchase significant volumes of this product for the needs of the French army.
In June 2026, the French manufacturer of Delair UAVs signed an agreement with the German supplier of automotive components Schaeffler to create a production line in France capable of producing about 100 drones per day by November 2026.
Automotive components supplier Valeo announced on July 20, 2026, the start of production in France of electric motors for UAVs in the interests of the defense technology company Harmattan AI. Forvia has announced a partnership with the European developer of anti-drone systems (C-UAS), stating the goal of increasing the production of interceptor drones to about 1,000 units. per month.
When implementing the announced plans of Renault, Schaeffler and Forvia, the total production volume of UAVs under these partnerships can reach 60 thousand units per year. This indicator forms an industrial base that is unattainable for individual defense startups, but remains below the scale of UAV production achieved by Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
In addition to the UAV production programs, Renault Group in June 2026 presented a joint project with Thales for the 4 TROOP military vehicle platform, and is also developing a ground-based robotic complex at the initial stage with the Belgian company John Cockerill Defense.
