A century after the FT Victory tank, Renault is reconnecting even more with national defense. In partnership with Thales, the manufacturer is presenting the 4 TROOP at Eurosatory, a multi-role hybrid tactical vehicle capable of operating drones and robots in the field. Production planned for early 2027.
Renault Group and the defense group Thales formalized on Monday June 15, 2026 a strategic partnership to co-develop the 4 TROOP, a multi-role hybrid 4×4 tactical vehicle intended for land forces. The prototype is presented at the Eurosatory exhibition, which is held from June 15 to 19, 2026 in Villepinte, near Paris, announces the Reuters press agency.
The 4 TROOP is a prototype Civil Multi-Role Vehicle (VCMR) designed to meet the operational needs of modern land forces. Based on the Scenic AmpR Medium platform, it features a four-wheel drive hybrid engine and covers a very broad spectrum of missions: reconnaissance, field coordination, surveillance of sensitive sites, deployment of drones and robots. Its Vehicle-to-Load function allows it to supply energy to electrical equipment directly in the theater of operations. Thales integrates its technologies from the SCORPION* environment – secure communications, tactical connectivity, multi-sensor coordination and decision support.
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Operational production from early 2027
According to Maxime Gazier, program director, and Ombeline Suzanne, director of special projects and partnerships at Renault, interviewed by Reuters, “Renault will have the capacity to respond to production demand at the start of 2027.” This partnership is not Renault’s first foray into the defense sector: the manufacturer had already been approached by the Ministry of the Armed Forces from September 2025 to contribute to military projects.
A century-old industrial tradition
Renault’s commitment to national defense is not new. From 1914, the Billancourt factories were reconverted to the war effort: production of shells, aircraft engines, military trucks, and above all design of the Renault FT, the first modern tank in history, nicknamed the “Char de la Victoire”, of which more than 3,700 examples were produced between 1917 and 1918. Between the two wars, Renault continued to supply massively the French army – from the R35 tank to transport vehicles – before the nationalization of the group, ordered by General de Gaulle in September 1944, marked the end of the Louis Renault era. After the Cold War, the group gradually moved away from the military sector, from which it saw itself largely excluded in favor of specialists like Arquus – direct heir to the defense branch of Renault – and the major European arms groups.
Chorus drones assembled at Le Mans, operational line end of 2026
Beyond the land vehicle, Renault is also developing the Chorus drone, co-designed with the company Turgis Gaillard as part of a market worth around 90 million euros notified by the DGA in December 2025. The first prototypes will leave the Le Mans workshop this been for trials in September, with an operational production line expected at the end of 2026 and a capacity of up to 600 units per month.
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