France to produce drones in Ukraine, minister says

French automotive and defense companies will produce drones on Ukrainian soil, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced on June 6, Le Monde reported.

"We are going to embark on a completely unprecedented partnership where a large French car company – I won't name it because it's up to them to announce it – will join forces with a French defense SME (small to medium-sized enterprise) to equip production lines in Ukraine to be able to produce drones," Lecornu said, as quoted by the newspaper.

Lecornu did not specify the types of drones to be produced.

He said that, apart from Ukraine, the drones will be also provided "to our own armies… to have ongoing tactical and operational training that reflects the reality."

Lecornu also said there is "no need" to send French citizens to work on the production line, since it will be set up in Ukraine, where Ukrainians "are better than us at designing drones and especially at developing the strategies that accompany them."

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has been developing and deploying technological innovations and cutting-edge unmanned systems. Both Ukraine and Russia have increasingly relied on drone warfare, using aerial, naval, and ground-based drones for reconnaissance and combat missions.

In late March, presidential advisor Alexander Kamyshin said in an interview with Radio Khartia that Ukrainian manufacturers had the capacity to produce over 5 million FPV drones per year.