The French Army recently deployed its soldiers for a unique assignment: show off some of its latest tactical drones to government and defense industry officials in Paris.
Leading the showcase is the DT46, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Delair to protect troops from modern battlefield threats.
It can fly for three hours in its vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) configuration, then convert to a fixed-wing setup in just 15 minutes to extend its flight time beyond six hours.
The drone features a fully encrypted communication range of 100 kilometers (62 miles), supporting covert intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.
Soldiers can remotely operate the DT46 and receive real-time data of its surroundings through its dual payloads: a gimbal electro-optical infrared camera and a lidar sensor.
Soldier-Made Training Drone
On the other side of the showcase stands the SL450 drone, developed in-house by the 17th Artillery Regiment (17RA) in collaboration with French firm Per Se Systems.
The aerial asset reportedly went from design to deployment in just weeks, equipping soldiers with a fast-track tool to train against hostile UAVs.
Troops received the SL450 from 17RA’s generator-powered 3D autonomous mobile factory, which houses 10 3D printers capable of producing 100 drones within a week.
“We firmly believe in frugal, fast, targeted, and robust innovation, designed for the field and the specific needs of operators,” Per Se Systems stated in a social media post.
