Renault shifts toward defense to build military drones

The rearmament effort of France is beginning to transform not only the defense industry, but also traditional sectors of the European economy.
The automotive industry, confronted with weaker consumer demand, elevated costs, and pressure from international competition, is now seeking new markets.
And one of these is defense.
Renault is on the front line of this shift, attempting to transfer the logic of mass automobile production to the manufacturing of military drones.
Its objective is not to transform into a purely defense company, but to leverage its industrial capabilities in a sector where speed, cost, and large-scale manufacturing are acquiring increasingly greater importance.
According to the Financial Times, the French automaker is collaborating with companies such as Thales and Turgis Gaillard, aiming to redesign military drones so that they can be produced much faster and more cheaply.

Automotive logic transfers to drones

Renault began its endeavor in a way familiar to the automotive industry: its engineers disassembled drones from various manufacturers and studied every component and production phase.
The conclusion was that many military drones are manufactured using processes very different from those of mass industrial production.
Complex materials, a large number of individual parts, and manual processes raise costs and restrict the pace of construction.
Jean-Philippe Billai, head of industrial excellence at Renault, explained that the company identified ways to replace certain expensive or hard-to-process materials with simpler alternatives.
In certain areas, for example, plastic can replace carbon fiber, lowering costs and accelerating the production process.
The philosophy is clear: a military drone does not necessarily need to be manufactured with the logic of an exorbitant aerospace system, particularly when it is intended for mass deployment on the battlefield.

1,000 Toutatis per month

The most distinctive partnership involves Thales.
Within the framework of an agreement announced in June, Renault plans to co-produce the Toutatis loitering munitions.
The target is impressive: production is projected to increase up to 100 times and reach 1,000 units per month once facilities operate at full capacity.
Production is expected to be ready starting in 2027.
The chief executive officer of Renault, François Provost, has explained that the two companies are essentially «deconstructing» the existing drone and redesigning it to reduce complexity.
The result is a new model with approximately 20% fewer parts and 40% fewer fastening points, such as screws.
These modifications may appear small, yet across a production run of thousands of units they can significantly reduce both assembly time and overall costs.

The 100,000-euro Chorus

Concurrently, Renault is collaborating with Turgis Gaillard on a larger drone designated Chorus.
The system is designed to execute long-range missions and offer capabilities approaching those of a missile, but at a far lower cost.
The French defense procurement agency estimates that each Chorus could cost approximately 100,000 euros.
This represents a striking difference compared to the one million euros or more that, according to industry executives, equivalent systems can cost.
The partners are designing a production capacity of approximately 600 drones per month.
If this target is achieved, it will reflect a new philosophy in military planning: instead of a few, exceptionally expensive systems, a larger quantity of cheaper weapons that can be replaced and upgraded quickly.

Why the automotive industry is looking toward defense

Renault does not constitute an isolated case.
In the United States, General Motors is expanding defense operations, while in Europe companies such as Volkswagen, Continental, Forvia, Valeo, and Schaeffler are examining partnerships with the defense sector.
The trend is tied to two parallel developments.
On the one hand, several automakers possess factories with lower utilization due to the market slowdown and the challenging transition to electric vehicles.
On the other hand, European governments are rapidly increasing their defense expenditures and require industrial capacity that the traditional defense sector cannot always supply immediately.
Automobile plants possess a major advantage: they know how to manufacture thousands of complex products daily, under strict cost and supply-chain controls.

The lesson from Ukraine

The war in Ukraine has demonstrated how decisive drones have become for modern military operations.
Ukrainian TAF Industries has increased its production capacity eightfold since 2023, reaching, according to available figures, 80,000 surveillance drones per month.
At the same time, Schaeffler is partnering with French Delair with the aim of increasing the production of drones and interceptors from approximately 10 daily to 100 per day.
The figures show that the model of traditional defense production is shifting.
Drones evolve so quickly that building massive stockpiles may not always be effective.
A system considered advanced today may require significant modifications to software, sensors, or communications within a few months.
For this reason, European governments want production lines capable of scaling up output abruptly when required, without relying exclusively on warehouses filled with older systems.

The boundaries of the military pivot

Renault, however, emphasizes that it does not intend to abandon its core identity.
The company wants defense revenues to remain a small portion of its total turnover and selects only programs in which its expertise in mass manufacturing offers a genuine advantage.
Concurrently, it is attempting to reduce electric car production costs by up to 40% and significantly shorten the development time for new models, as it confronts intense pressure from Chinese automakers.
There is also pushback within the company.
Trade unions, including the CGT, have voiced opposition to Renault's involvement in defense manufacturing.
Despite the objections, the Chorus program already appears to be attracting interest from Ukraine, while French authorities are even considering the possibility of future technology exports through production licenses.
The major transformation is already underway: the line that separated the automotive industry from the defense industry is becoming increasingly blurred.
And if Renault manages to apply to military drones the industrial efficiency it has deployed for decades in automobiles, the outcome could alter not only the cost of drones, but also the way Europe prepares for the conflicts of the future.

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