France’s Direction Générale de L’armement (DGA) has begun testing the AVATAR mini-drone.
A photo shared on Twitter by the official handle of the DGA, shows a drone armed with an HK416 assault rifle.
AVATAR is a project managed by DGA Land Techniques and is being developed to meet the requirements of the French Ministry of Defense. The project will be useful to the French armed forces for fighting in urban conditions and during special operations.
Currently there is no publicly available information as to whether the drone has entered the testing phase, however it is clear from the statement issued from the official Twitter handle that it is in the beginning stage of the testing phase. While the French military has successfully attached assault rifles to drones, the Ministry of French Defense wants the avatar to have the capability to bring down targets 100 to 150 meters away.
According to the DGA officer, the training test will start later this year or early next year. DGA reports show that the AVATAR is facing gun stability issues and it still needs to fix the recoil issue when the rifle is fired.
The Avatar has been designed to carry a cargo load in excess of 6kg.
France is looking for ways to improve the combat capabilities of its troops.
