Defense: Renault and Thales go on the offensive – VIPress.net

The two industrial groups are joining forces to industrialize the Toutatis teleoperated munition in France and develop new connected land mobile capabilities, with the objective of strengthening French industrial autonomy while accelerating the production of drones and new generation tactical systems.

Renault Group et Thales announced at Eurosatory 2026 a partnership aimed at developing a sovereign French drone industry. The two groups are combining their respective skills in defense, on-board technologies and industrialization in order to produce on a large scale the Toutatis remotely operated munition (MTO), developed by Thales.

This cooperation plans to launch production in 2027 with an initial capacity of 1,000 units per month. The ambition is to respond to the growing needs of the armed forces in a context of strengthening industrial defense and war economy capacities. This partnership should also contribute to securing the national supply of munitions while strengthening the competitiveness of the French sector.

Thales and Renault plan to launch production of the Toutatis drone in 2027 with an initial capacity of 1,000 units per month – Thales

Designed for high-intensity conflicts, Toutatis is a short-range teleoperated munition that can be deployed by a soldier or deployed from different land, air or naval platforms. electromagnetic, it has an interchangeable military charge depending on the missions and can neutralize various targets, in particular combat vehicles. The system keeps humans at the heart of the decision and can be integrated into swarms of drones in order to adapt to evolving operational needs.

A prototype of a multi-rail civil vehicle (VCMR)

At the same time, Renault Group and Thales presented 4 Troop, a prototype civilian multi-role vehicle (VCMR) intended for land forces. Based on the electronic architecture of a production Renault vehicle, it integrates Thales technologies in secure communications, tactical connectivity, operational coordination and decision support.

Through the integration of drones, sensors, hybrid secure communications links and AI-powered tools, 4 Troop acts as a mobile command center capable of processing large volumes of data, coordinating drones and robots and supporting field operations. The vehicle is based in particular on Thales’ “Combat Digital Platform” as well as several technological bricks developed as part of the Scorpion program, the collaborative tactical combat network of land forces.

The 4 Troop vehicle acts as a mobile command center capable of processing large volumes of data, coordinating drones and robots and supporting field operations – © Renault Group & Thales

Presented in a hybrid four-wheel drive configuration, the vehicle offers discreet mobility, extended autonomy and on-board electric power capability thanks to Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) technology. Versatile, it can be used for reconnaissance, surveillance, coordination, logistical support or even deployment of drones and robots.

These two announcements made during Eurosatory concretize Renault’s desire to explore the field of defense, since it confirmed, last February, its intention to produce military drones in its Le Mans factory.

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