France to form 15 FPV drone units by summer 2027

Transforming armoured troops into drone operators

The French military command plans to form approximately 15 specialised units operating strike FPV drones by the summer of 2027. The initiative is based on the successful experience of experimentally retraining servicemen who previously operated combat vehicles.

As part of a pilot project, the 1st Marine Infantry Regiment of France carried out a structural change: one of its three reconnaissance companies was fully reorganised into a unit specialising in the use of unmanned systems. The French army began retraining AMX-10RC armoured vehicle gunners to perform the functions of strike drone operators.

Field trial results

The practical effectiveness of the new tactics was confirmed during the international Hedgehog 2025 exercises held in Estonia. French drone operators, who comprised only 5% of the tactical group's personnel, accounted for 20% of the enemy's simulated losses in a single day. The opposing force consisted of US troops using M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles.

Similar high performance by FPV drone crews was demonstrated during the Orion 2026 exercises. According to the simulated results of the manoeuvres, drone operators destroyed four enemy battalion command posts, several supply convoys, and enemy air defence units.

Technical improvements and objectives

Currently, French military personnel are working on expanding the capabilities of the equipment. The main task is to increase the operational range of FPV drones to 10 kilometres, as well as to implement automatic guidance systems.

Command expects that these measures will allow target accuracy to be increased from the current 5–30% to 80–90%.

The photo shows a French FPV drone crew at the Mailly-le-Camp training ground, located east of Paris, during the June training of the 1st Marine Infantry Regiment.