Automaker Renault to Produce 600 Drones Per Year for French MoD

Renault Group is moving into military drone manufacturing after securing a €35 million contract from the French Ministry of Defense, marking a shift for the automaker into defense production.

French publication LA Tribune reported that Renault will partner with defense company Turgis Gaillard to design and manufacture a tactical drone with a wingspan of around 10 meters. The project will be executed through a newly created 50–50 joint venture, Chorus, following an approach by France’s defense procurement agency before the summer, according to L’Usine Nouvelle.

Drone production will be set up at Renault’s Le Mans facility, which currently produces chassis, components, and cast parts. Once fully operational, the assembly line is expected to deliver up to 600 drones per year by the end of its first year, making it one of the most ambitious industrial drone programs undertaken by a European automaker.

The €35 million contract, notified to the partners at the end of December, covers the industrialization of the drone at a low unit cost. However, no firm production order has yet been placed. The program remains contingent on the success of prototype flight tests scheduled for September.

Turgis Gaillard, which employs around 400 people and reports annual revenue of roughly €80 million, brings defense and drone design experience, including work on the Aarok MALE drone. Renault’s role centers on industrial scaling, with the partners aiming to cut unit costs by a factor of ten through mass production.

Engineering teams from both companies have been working discreetly for several months at Renault’s Guyancourt technology center. If validated, the drone could form the basis of a longer-term procurement program with the French defense procurement agency over the next decade.