The French army would be slammed: why Ukrainian know

Three Ukrainian manufacturers were present in April at the very confidential Franco-Ukrainian defense forum, aiming to establish partnerships in a spy movie-like atmosphere: anonymity or pseudonyms required, interviews on a bench near the Champs-Elysées, changing rooms in a hotel at the slightest hint of Russian spoken.

“We want to see how countries that have supported us, like France, can benefit from our experience,” explains Olexandre, an engineer from Bavovna who has been producing attack drones since 2022, including the largest strike drone in Ukraine, Perun Max.

“The sky of drones” makes the battlefield transparent, where men and armored vehicles become targets as soon as they enter “no man’s land” of about twenty kilometers, highlighted military experts French at the Wars and Peace forum organized by “Le Point”. A situation generated by the technological race between Ukrainian and Russian belligerents.

A transformation is underway in France: 5,000 out of 77,000 men from the operational land forces must be redirected towards drone-related specialties, according to General Bruno Baratz, future combat commander. Facing mass-produced products “which are intended to wear out our system,” “we need systems that are just as massive, inexpensive, and easy to produce,” he added, pointing out France’s lag and the reluctance of part of the military hierarchy.

For Bastien Mancini, head of the French drone manufacturer Delair, the issue is reducing costs to avoid asymmetry. Other startups, such as Alta Ares or Harmattan AI, also use feedback from the Ukrainian front to improve their technologies.

Shrike, another small FPV drone (first-person view controlled via an onboard camera) from Skyfall, costs $500 and was the first to “shoot down a Mi-8 helicopter in flight for 10 million dollars”. “These drones have destroyed enemy equipment worth billions […] We have the capacity to produce over a million per year,” said a Skyfall spokesperson requesting anonymity.

The third one, the P1-Sun interceptor nicknamed Pissioun (zizi) and manufactured at 50,000 units per month, “has already destroyed around 2,500 Shahed and 1,500 other aerial targets,” they added. While the priority remains the defense of Ukraine, and any international collaboration must receive approval from Kiev, the group hints at being able to meet both frontline needs and potential partnerships.

Critics have emerged with the Khyjak module (Founder), a telecommanded weapon system equipped with a 7.62 mm machine gun, initially developed by the Ukrainian UGV Robotics to equip the Magura naval surface drones. These have sunk and damaged several Russian warships in the Black Sea.

The principle is to make a simple machine gun intelligent to shoot down a drone in flight, according to Dmytro Bourakov, head of international relations at UGV Robotics. The CEO of the German tank giant Rheinmetall Armin Papperger sparked controversy by calling Ukrainian drones made, according to him, “not very innovative” and produced “in the kitchen by housewives,” in an interview with the American magazine “The Atlantic” in March.