Forefront Concept, Renault's third military project which anchors the automaker in the defense industry

We now know the third opus of the Renault in defense trilogy. After two first models of aerial drones, the automobile manufacturer unveiled this Tuesday, November 3, the prototype of a terrestrial robot, designed in partnership with the Belgian group specializing in military equipment John Cockerill. Upcoming production in France of this ground drone should be tested in the coming weeks by French armed forces.

Called Forefront Concept, the vehicle will be capable of evacuating injured people, transporting equipment, monitoring and protecting sensitive industrial sites such as nuclear power plants, lists the general director of John Cockerill, Jean-Luc Maurange. It will also be able to carry out combat missions in dangerous zones and anti-drone combat, since it will be equipped with a remotely operated turret equipped with a firing capacity and a detection system.

The size of a city car like the Twingo, the machine will have four-wheel drive, four-wheel steering and two electric motors. Renault will produce the platform in one of its French factories, the location of which has not yet been determined, according to a group source. As for John Cockerill, he will provide remote operation and autonomy engineering.

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Opportunities in Ukraine and the Middle East

Forefront Concept will have “large crossing capacities”, will be silent, “with a range of around 400 kilometers” and capable of transporting a tonne of payload, according to an internal Renault source cited by AFP. Although it can be available in both civilian and military versions, its characteristics make it a machine particularly suited to war zones.

Jean-Luc Maurange cites the Middle East as potential markets, where demining needs remain significant during and after multiple conflicts, as well as the Ukrainian market, which “immediately comes to mind”. Land drones have become essential in “kill zones” very exposed to aerial drones, where soldiers have only minimal chances of survival. It is this observation, coupled with that of French delay in the sector, which pushed the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) to ask Renault in July 2024 to mass produce cheap drones, by mobilizing civilian manufacturers. Forefront Concept is made up of 70% components “already existing on the mobility part and which are already produced in number”, which made it possible to divide its cost by ten, according to Jean-Luc Maurange.

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Before Forefront Concept, Chorus and Toutatis

This project already represents the third drone project announced this year by Renault. In January, the diamond brand joined forces with the French company Turgis Gaillard, specialized in aeronautics and defense, to develop Chorus, a drone intended for deep strikes which is inspired by the Ukrainian Flamingo. Manufactured on a Renault site in Le Mans, with a production rate of several hundred units per month, it will be equipped with a thermal engine and not a turbojet, again to drastically reduce its cost.

Machine-translated from French