The French Army turns tank crews into FPV drone pilots

During 2026, the French Army began a major reorganization of its cavalry units.  Drawing on lessons learned on the battlefield in the conflict in Ukraine, the 1° Reggimento di Fanteria di Marina converted one of its three light cavalry squadrons into an experimental all-drone formation: the first hunter drone squadron.

The results achieved during exercises were so clear-cut that they convinced military leaders to expand the project nationwide, setting a target of creating around 15 squadrons dedicated to combat drones by the summer of 2027. The momentum is also reflected in international deployments, with the first deployment of a unit to Romania as part of Missione Aigle and further exercises in Poland, applying the classic principles of light cavalry — reconnaissance, speed, flanking maneuvers, and destruction — through the use of lightweight, stealthy remotely piloted aircraft.

Battlefield Impact and NATO Vulnerabilities

The effectiveness of the new doctrine was demonstrated during the NATO exercise in Estonia, where a team of just 10 French pilots, representing 5% of their battlegroup's active strength, faced a U.S. unit equipped with M2A4 Bradley tracked vehicles, accounting for 20% of the total losses inflicted on the enemy in a single day. In subsequent national maneuvers, FPV pilots virtually destroyed four regimental command posts, logistics convoys, and counter-drone batteries.

However, simulations on realistic terrain showed that drones do not solve every problem and have significant vulnerabilities. First, electronic warfare and frequency jamming can neutralize entire swarms, allowing enemy armored forces to advance. Second, the constant need for manpower remains evident: without dismounted soldiers armed with conventional weapons such as rifles, mortars, and anti-tank missiles, the enemy can break through the lines when drones cannot fly because of bad weather or interference. Finally, during training at the CENTAC center, troops adapted by adopting visual and thermal camouflage strategies — including the use of camouflage umbrellas to break up silhouettes from above — and fielding 12-gauge shotguns for close-range defense against FPVs.

Logistics and the Industrial Future ("Queen and Workers")

The introduction of drones is also radically changing how a cavalry squadron manages its logistics. A 120-person unit with 100 pilots requires fewer traditional heavy munitions, but needs a constant supply chain of batteries, field generators, and hundreds of airframes, given that a single pilot can use between 10 and 20 loitering munitions during a single day of intense combat.

To push operational capabilities further, the regiment is working with several defense companies on next-generation technologies, including the "Queen and Workers" concept. In this system, multiple aircraft are launched from canisters mounted on the rear of an armored vehicle: a mother drone autonomously identifies targets using artificial intelligence and guides kamikaze drones to impact. Thanks to these solutions, autonomous terminal guidance aims to increase drone accuracy from the current 10–30% to 80–90%, extending operational range to 10 kilometers for attacks and 20 kilometers for reconnaissance.

As French commanders have emphasized, drones will not make traditional tanks obsolete, but they are reshaping combined-arms warfare, where the primary objective is to dominate the tempo of battle and deny the enemy the time needed to decide and react.