Nexter selected to develop loitering munition for French military
Nexter will supply the fragmentation warhead for a loitering munition developed for France's Colibri competition. (Photo: author)
France's Defence Innovation Agency (AID) has selected Nexter and a French UAV manufacturer who wishes to remain anonymous at this stage to develop a loitering munition as part of the Colibri competition.
The companies will supply a loitering munition based on a fixed-wing UAV capable of 40 minutes' endurance, the time required to to fly to a search area up to 5km away, look for a target (a light vehicle or group of infantry), and return to its launch point if it has not engaged.
The target unit cost is €20,000, ($21,700), which according to the programme director at Nexter is 'under the price of
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