French Army taps Nexter to build tank-busting kamikaze drones

PARIS — The French military has selected Nexter to develop new drones equipped with anti-tank warheads for the army, with a goal to demonstrate the new capability by the end of 2024, the company announced June 19.

The French Defense Innovation Agency – an agency similar to the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) – signed a contract with Nexter on June 16 to build a new medium-range, remotely operated munition under the “Larinae” project, which was launched in early May. Larinae is Latin for seagull.

Nexter and its partners’ proposed solution includes an unmanned aerial system (UAS) manufactured by French vendor EOS Technologie, along with core-generating charge technology produced by Nexter, and a GPS-independent navigation system capable of operating in contested environments from startup TRAAK. It’s intended to have a range of at least 80 kilometers (nearly 50 miles) and to remain autonomous for three hours.

The French defense ministry declined to give a price tag for the project.

Nexter – which is part of the European land defense systems group KNDS alongside Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann – touted the munition’s proposed ability to “thwart” active defenses of armored vehicles before piercing their armor. It will also contain an optronic ball capable of detecting vehicles 15 kilometers away by day, three kilometers by night, and which allows operators to observe terrain from afar.

The French Armed Forces have put a premium on developing a low-cost unmanned solution that can target and neutralize an armored vehicle between 5 and 50 kilometers away. Larinae focuses on the higher end of that distance, and a second project, “Colibri” – or Hummingbird – focuses on the lower end.

Loitering munitions have received renewed attention from militaries since being used by both Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 2020, and for their use by Ukraine in their ongoing defense against Russian forces.

France first announced an interest in procuring U.S.-built loitering munitions in 2022 as a transitional capability while the Larinae and Colibri projects move forward. This past April, U.S. unmanned systems manufacturer Aerovironment announced it had received a $64 million contract to provide its Switchblade 300 drone to the U.S. Army , and that the contract included foreign military sales for the capability to France “for the first time,” as well as to “another allied nation.” Those drones are scheduled to be delivered in 2024. Aerovironment has supplied the Switchblade 300 to the U.S. Army for over a decade.

The French government’s proposed military budget for the 2024-2030 period includes €5 billion ($5.5 billion) for unmanned systems. The budget is currently being deliberated by the French Senate, and has already been passed by the government’s lower body, the General Assembly.

Vivienne Machi is a reporter based in Stuttgart, Germany, contributing to Defense News' European coverage. She previously reported for National Defense Magazine, Defense Daily, Via Satellite, Foreign Policy and the Dayton Daily News. She was named the Defence Media Awards' best young defense journalist in 2020.

巴黎——奈克斯特公司于6月19日宣布，法国军方已选择该公司为陆军开发配备反坦克弹头的新型无人机，目标是在2024年底前展示这项新能力。

法国国防创新局（类似于美国国防高级研究计划局 (DARPA)）于6月16日与奈克斯特公司签署合同，根据“Larinae”项目（该项目于5月初启动）建造一种新型中程遥控弹药。Larinae在拉丁语中意为海鸥。

Nexter及其合作伙伴提出的解决方案包括由法国供应商EOS Technologie制造的无人机系统（UAS）、Nexter自主研发的核心发电充电技术，以及初创公司TRAAK开发的能够在复杂环境下运行的独立于GPS的导航系统。该方案的预期航程至少为80公里（近50英里），并能自主运行三小时。

法国国防部拒绝透露该项目的造价。

隶属于欧洲陆地防御系统集团KNDS（与德国克劳斯-玛菲·韦格曼公司同属该集团）的奈克斯特公司宣称，其研制的弹药能够在穿透装甲车辆装甲之前“挫败”其主动防御系统。该弹药还包含一个光电球，能够在白天探测15公里外、夜间探测3公里外的车辆，并使操作人员能够远距离观察地形。

法国武装部队高度重视研发一种低成本的无人解决方案，该方案能够在5至50公里范围内锁定并摧毁装甲车辆。Larinae项目专注于较远距离的作战能力，而另一个项目“Colibri”（蜂鸟）则专注于较近距离的作战能力。

自 2020 年阿塞拜疆和亚美尼亚在纳戈尔诺-卡拉巴赫冲突中使用巡飞弹，以及乌克兰在持续防御俄罗斯军队的过程中使用巡飞弹以来，巡飞弹再次引起了各国军方的关注。

法国于2022年首次宣布有意采购美国制造的巡飞弹，作为Larinae和Colibri项目推进期间的过渡能力。今年4月，美国无人系统制造商Aerovironment宣布已获得一份价值6400万美元的合同，将向美国陆军提供其Switchblade 300无人机。该合同还包括首次向法国以及“另一个盟国”出售该型无人机。这些无人机计划于2024年交付。Aerovironment已向美国陆军供应Switchblade 300无人机超过十年。

法国政府提出的2024-2030年军费预算中，包括50亿欧元（约合55亿美元）用于无人系统。该预算目前正在法国参议院审议，此前已获国民议会通过。

薇薇安·马奇是驻德国斯图加特的一名记者，主要负责《防务新闻》的欧洲报道。她此前曾为《国家防务杂志》、《防务日报》、《卫星通讯》、《外交政策》和《代顿每日新闻》撰稿。2020年，她荣获防务媒体奖最佳青年防务记者称号。