A new weapon made in France. It was through a video posted on his In one image, in black and white and in slow motion, a drone is heading towards an object on the ground, which, barely touched, is subjected to the explosion of the machine.
This is “the first French tele-operated munition”, rejoiced the minister, immediately announcing the first deliveries to Ukraine and “to our forces”, after tests which proved to be “successful”. “. “Reconquest of sovereignty over this key segment for our armies, in less than two years,” welcomed the minister, commenting on the video showing the explosion of a drone.
2,000 drones for the French army and the Ukrainian army
The Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) has successfully completed the tests of its new “kamikaze” drone. It would be the culmination of the COLIBRI project, launched in 2022 and developed by the Franco-German holding company KNDS, specialist in the defense industry, in partnership with Delair, leader in the manufacturing of drones, reports the daily The Voice of the North. “This remotely operated munition, with an autonomy of 45 minutes, is capable of observing, identifying and neutralizing static or moving targets within a radius of 25 kilometers, KNDS indicated in June. The demonstrator of its warhead innovative was developed in less than two years. The KNDS company has already assured that the machine can fly day and night, in a scrambled environment, and that it can destroy infantry type targets or an unarmored vehicle. The unit price was never specified but the 2022 DGA call for tenders mentioned “a low-cost system”.
The French Ministry of the Armed Forces announced last March the order for 2,000 French-designed remotely operated munitions, including the first 100 urgently for Ukraine. “Kamikaze drones are absolutely fundamental in the conduct of operations and will be able to constitute a complement to the Caesar cannon in terms of artillery,” he argued. For Sébastien Lecornu, these first investments in MTOs “are part of an important catch-up effort for our armies” while France is lagging behind in the development of drones.
In the war in Ukraine, drones have become indispensable. For several months, almost every night, Moscow and kyiv have launched dozens of drones to try to reach targets behind enemy lines, in particular to disrupt the logistics of the armed forces. Some attacks result in damage to key infrastructure, including weapons or oil depots. Others cause deaths and injuries in enemy battalions, but also among civilians. On both sides, the air arms race has become crucial. Recently, the Ukrainian armed forces have been using a new type of drone, called a dragon drone, which is particularly destructive and capable of setting fire to military equipment hidden under vegetation.