Eurosatory, Paris 19.06.2026 French defence companies are increasingly turning to civilian manufacturing partners to prepare for the large-scale production of loitering munitions, a trend highlighted by announcements at Eurosatory 2026.

Loitering munitions, often called “kamikaze” or “suicide” drones are hybrid aerial weapons that combine the surveillance capabilities of a drone with the explosive strike of a guided missile. Instead of striking immediately, they can hover over a target area, wait for the optimal moment, and dive to detonate

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Clairement l’un des meilleurs stands de tout le salon avec littéralement un missile de croisière Flamingo peint en rose en exposition.

Un missile avec un coût de production bas qui… pic.twitter.com/0iTLBWtYfK

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These moves come amid France’s push towards sovereign drone production and the capabilities of continued market expansion.

À Eurosatory, une conviction s’impose : dans le monde qui vient, les nations désarmées seront des nations dépendantes.

La France doit consolider sa dissuasion, reconstituer ses stocks, investir dans les drones, l’IA, le spatial militaire et bâtir une vraie armée de réserve.

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Speaking to Shephard at the MBDA chalet, Hugo Coqueret, Business Development Manager – Battlefield, stated that the company has an arrangement in place with an undisclosed civilian manufacturer to mass-produce the Deluge one-way effector (OWE), contingent on larger contracts from the Directorate General of Armament (DGA).

The arrangement could extend to the Akeron RCH 170 loitering munition, which is the focus of MBDA’s competitive tender for France’s medium-range loitering munition programme.

MBDA’s announcement mirrors that of Thales’, which, earlier in the week, announced in a press release that it and French car manufacturer Renault Group (RG) had partnered to jointly develop and industrialise the large-scale production of Thales’ Toutatis loitering munition. The collaboration aims to mass-produce the aircraft, with production scheduled to begin in 2027, with a goal of 10,000 units per year.

Cécilia Aguero, Director of Drone Systems, added further details, telling Shephard that the drone manufactured by Renault would differ from the original aircraft, with a simpler design and tooling, helping enable the desired production rate.

Given the use of the French civilian industry, awarding a large-scale contract to either Thales or MBDA will align with France’s broader push to produce its own uncrewed aircraft domestically, ensuring sovereign capabilities with more resilient supply chains.

As reported by Shephard, before Eurosatory began, the country’s growing desire for sovereign UAV capabilities was crystallised in its updated Military Programming Law (LPM) 2024-2030, published in April 2026. The document indicated a pullback from, but not a full withdrawal from, the €7.1 billion ($8.56 billion) multinational Eurodrone project, and a shift towards “lower-cost sovereign theatre drones”, with particular emphasis placed on the desire to acquire a French-made MALE UAV.

Loitering munition market:

Despite the lack of large-scale orders that would require civilian industry, France’s loitering munition programmes are maturing, with many smaller-scale deals announced in Paris.

At Eurosatory, Coqueret confirmed that MBDA’s Deluge is under contract, with the company supplying it to France’s three armies, with delivery set for mid-2027. The DGA awarded this MBDA and its partner, Aviation Design, in January, with Defence Insight estimating that the total value of the OWE procurement could exceed $700 million.

Additionally, the company’s Akeron RCX 50 loitering munition, developed under the Colibri innovation programme, is the subject of a DGA experimentation contract, with the French Navy and Army to test the system this year, potentially leading to a larger procurement of the short-range system.

The company’s larger Akeron RCH 170 is also involved with the DGA. Coqueret explained that MBDA, along with its partners, KNDS and Delair, are taking part in a competitive tender for the DGA’s medium-range requirement, with the procurement and the systems themselves having their origins in the Larinae innovation programme. A decision is expected by the end of the year. The drone’s involvement in the programme was known previously, as the DGA announced in July 2025 that it had conducted its first flight trials under the Larinae effort.

These deals, and others, exemplify France’s desire and willingness to acquire loitering munitions. Shephard’s Defence Insight believes that it will be the fifth-largest spending nation on the capability, with its market valued at an estimated $2.24 billion, accounting for nearly 5% of global loitering munition spending, estimated at $45.24 billion.

The global loitering munition market has grown significantly in recent years, with Azerbaijan’s use of this capability in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the widespread use of these drones following Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the 2026 Iran War all highlighting the growing importance of this capability in modern warfare.

Vehicle-based loitering munitions

Another avenue of France’s loitering munition manufacturers is vehicle integration. Earlier in the week, the two companies presented the 4 TROOP, a prototype variant of the VCMR that, among other things, is intended for integration with UAVs.

At the Thales chalet, Marc Dehondt, Innovation Manager at Thales, told Shephard that the Parrot Anafi UKR and Hexadrone’s Tundra can be integrated into the vehicle, and noted that the companies would look to offer different configurations of the system to the French land forces. The system is still in its infancy, with Dehondt stating that experiments will be conducted with the French armed forces this year.

Elsewhere in Thales’ portfolio, Schiebel is displaying the Camcopter S-301, fitted with a launcher capable of air-launching two Toutatis loitering munitions. Andrew Humphries, Product Line Manager at Thales, told reporters that the two companies were testing the capability and actively seeking opportunities to demonstrate the air-launched effect (ALE).

France has previously expressed a desire for an ALE capability, with French Chief of Staff of the Army, General Pierre Schill, stating in December 2024 that he envisaged a “dronization of air combat”, combining larger aircraft with smaller ALEs. Based on this, Shephard forecast that France could possibly have an under $300 million requirement for such a capability, with a contract award forecasted for 2030.

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Other nations have more mature ALE requirements, such as South Korea and the UK’s announced desire to procure the capability, and the more advanced US Launched Effects – Medium Range (LE-MR) effort, which Palladyne AI and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) recently announced they would bid for.

Renault is also involved in other French loitering munition programmes, working with Turgis Gaillard to produce the long-range, deep strike Chorus system, which, depending on the successful testing of early versions, could result in the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) granting up to €1 billion ($1.16 billion) for the drone’s mass production and acquisition over 10 years.