France doubles down on its homegrown kamikaze drone

France has ordered several hundred more MX-10 DAMOCLES kamikaze drones from KNDS France and Delair, and the quadcopter munition has won its first export customer, Luxembourg, which signed a contract worth just over 1.6 million euros ($1.8 million) for an initial capability. The French Ministry of the Armed Forces activated an optional tranche of its existing contract in early October, covering delivery of “several hundred” of the loitering munitions within 12 months, French defense outlet FOB reported on Oct. 13. The first units from the new batch are due in early 2027. The order follows 460 DAMOCLES delivered to French forces in 2025 and 2026 under the firm part of a framework contract signed in July 2024, which covers up to 2,270 units over seven years. DAMOCLES is a small quadcopter that carries a 550 g (19-ounce) fragmentation-incendiary warhead made by KNDS and streams live video to its operator up to the moment of impact. It is designed to strike infantry and light vehicles at a range KNDS lists as 10 km (6 miles), with French reporting putting its reach at 10 to 20 km, and can stay in the air for about 40 minutes. If an attack is called off, the operator can abort the dive and send the drone back into a holding pattern until a better moment to strike. The French Army and French Navy both use it. “This new order makes it possible to increase production capacity,” KNDS said, in remarks translated from French. The company said it had prepared for series production from the start of the first tranche, investing in raw materials and hiring so it could ramp up quickly if needed. Delair, which builds the airframe, has teamed with the French arm of German automotive supplier Schaeffler to manufacture it. Together, the partners have increased their starting capacity tenfold to 100 drones a day, FOB reported. Luxembourg’s contract with KNDS Ammo France was signed in June 2026 and gives its small army a first loitering munition capability. FOB reported that DAMOCLES is the only loitering munition in Europe qualified at the government level, and that its five successive safety mechanisms weighed in Luxembourg’s choice, along with closer alignment with France and access to French testing and training facilities that Luxembourg lacks. KNDS sells DAMOCLES as part of its MATARIS family of loitering munitions, launched in 2025, and is now competing as part of a team for France’s upcoming medium-range loitering munition program, the third phase of the French Army’s “contact drones” effort. France set aside more than 500 million euros ($560 million) in its 2026 budget for that program and other related work, and the winner is expected to be announced soon. France’s procurement agency, the DGA, has also launched a consultation for tens of thousands of warheads for loitering munitions, buying them separately from the drones themselves so the explosive charges can be stockpiled for years while the fast-changing airframes are updated more often. KNDS said it intends to compete both for drone programs, through partnerships with French or foreign firms, and for different types of warheads.