– DELAIR has announced the acquisition of Grenoble-based drone manufacturer SQUADRONE SYSTEM, a specialist in drone swarms and industrial inspection. The Toulouse drone manufacturer confirms its dual development strategy (civil & defense) and accelerates the deployment of its technological roadmap.
Founded in 2014 in Grenoble, SQUADRONE SYSTEM., with a workforce of 22 and estimated turnover of €2M in 2024, specializes in the design of multi-copter drones for complex use cases:
- UAV swarming: through the TAMOS (Tactical Multi-Objectives Swarming UAVs) project of the Agence Innovation Défense (AID – Defense Innovation Agency) and the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA – French Armament General Directorate).
- Anti-drone combat: RapidEagle project
- Automated industrial inspections: in the civil sector, with UAVs for warehouse inventories, radio spectrum monitoring or aircraft inspection on the ground.
SQUADRONE SYSTEM has also proved its ability to mass-produce UAVs in significant volumes with the HEXO+ drone, which was produced in France at a rate of 600 UAVs/week, and to form partnerships for the dissemination of its key technologies (swarms, anti-drone systems) with major defense players such as Thalès and Safran Electronics & Defense.
With this acquisition, aerial and underwater drone manufacturer DELAIR positions itself as a player in the strengthening of the drone sector in France, and reaches a new milestone in its growth, with a workforce of 150 and a projected turnover of over 30 million euros by 2024.
DELAIR Confirms its Dual Development Strategy
“While DELAIR’s Security/Defense business has been particularly dynamic over the past 2 years, our positioning is resolutely dual, with the aim of balancing our civil and military activities at mid-term. The acquisition of SQUADRONE SYSTEM enables us not only to acquire directly the technological backbone of drone swarms, but also to develop our civil industrial inspection activity”, explains Bastien MANCINI, CEO of DELAIR.
Technological Differentiation
“The acquisition of SQUADRONE SYSTEM is perfectly aligned with our technological roadmap, which is built around 5 major technological building blocks (energy, image processing, electronic warfare, swarms and certification). The synergies generated will enable us to gain precious time in an increasingly intense European and global competitive field” adds Bastien MANCINI.
A New Site in a World-Class Technological Hub: Grenoble
After Toulouse, the world’s leading aeronautics center, and Marseille, home to its marine and submarine activities, Delair confirms its local presence by opening a third site in Grenoble, the historic hub of microelectronics in France. At the heart of a world-beating micro and nanotechnology innovation ecosystem.
“This industrial and territorial vision of our development will enable us, step by step, to create a European leader in robotics, based on the technological, academic and industrial specialties specific to each territory and necessary for our complex systems. This will enable us to confront global competition with great ambition,” concludes Bastien MANCINI.
Source: Delair