According to information released by the French Army on the social media X on June 2, 2025, an extraordinary field trial is underway involving a mobile micro-factory capable of producing drones directly at the front line.
This autonomous system, established by the Prigueux-based start-up Per Se Systems, allows the production of an FPV (first-person view) drone in simply 3 hours per 3D printer.
With multiple printers operating concurrently within the trailer-based facility, the system can deliver up to ten drones per hour, enabling a constant and localized supply without depending on conventional commercial logistics chains.Founded in 2023 by Paul Pelletier and Julian Faraut, Per Se Systems rapidly placed itself within the domain of lightweight battle innovations.
Following a demonstration of their drone to the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment, the two founders were contacted by the 17th Artillery Group to develop a mobile micro-factory developed to produce a target drone for training purposes.
The SL450 model, developed within a few weeks, is capable of autonomous flight and simulating moving targets for live-fire exercises.The micro-factory, compact and mobile, was designed to operate in complete autonomy.
Powered by a generator, it provides 19 hours of constant operation.
It includes features adjusted to operational environments, such as integrated a/c, a smoke extractor to make sure safe working conditions, and a solar panel supplying discreet lighting.
The whole system is designed to be towed by a light car, eliminating the need for heavy transport devices such as trucks with hydraulic arms.Per Se Systems established this solution with a concentrate on emergency situation use and operational strength, allowing military forces or commercial partners to manufacture drones near human and technical resources, independent of repaired infrastructure.
A civilian version under research study might be released in automobiles, metropolitan areas, or short-lived structures to satisfy immediate production needs.
The company has actually submitted numerous patents in France and abroad covering integration and guidance systems and specifies its intent to move far from Chinese-origin parts utilized in preliminary prototypes by establishing a fully modified, domestically sourced version.Currently collaborating with twelve French Army programs and associated with four confidential advancement programs, Per Se Systems shows an emerging pattern in field-oriented tactical innovation.
Supported by the command of the 17th Artillery Group, this initiative represents a shift in teaching concerning military production under degraded conditions.
It highlights a strategic move toward mobile, modular, and rapidly deployable tactical production capabilities within high-intensity functional environments.This approach addresses a growing requirement in modern-day conflicts: quick, autonomous, and decentralized production of tactical drones, particularly FPV models thought about single-use or expendable on the battlefield.
The capability to print and put together a drone within 3 hours, without dependence on susceptible or saturated commercial supply lines, offers a clear operational advantage by ensuring connection in action.
It likewise shortens the space between tactical requirement and equipment availability while making it possible for forces to respond to rapidly progressing conditions.The war in Ukraine has highlighted the scale of this phenomenon.
In certain frontline sectors, forces supposedly take in several hundred FPV drones daily, rising to 10,000 systems monthly according to some price quotes.
Utilized for low-priced accuracy strikes against lorries, personnel, or entrenched positions, these drones have actually become a vital tool in close fight.
However, the intensity of their usage has likewise revealed a structural constraint: the failure of centralized production systems to satisfy sustained demand.
In action, numerous stars on the ground have actually turned to regional, flexible, and improvised production methods, like the principle now being checked by Per Se Systems.In this context, the French micro-factory principle lines up with a distributed warfare design, where the capability to produce rapidly, anywhere, and individually ends up being as tactically important as technological superiority.
Nevertheless, if this option were to be continual long-lasting, production capacity would require to be considerably scaled approximately meet the real requirements of the armed forces.Source: Army Recognition