France unveils home made kamikaze drone Veloce 330 based on Iranian Shahed 238.

The "Veloce 330," a kamikaze drone powered by a jet engine and designed and manufactured at the facilities of EOS Technologie in France, has completed a third phase of flight testing. First Images are published by manufactured on a video released on May 2, 2024. It is heavily inspired by the brand-new Shahed 238 introduced by Iran in November 2023.
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Veloce 330 presentation video capture by EOS  (Picture source: Eos technology )

With several peaks exceeding 400 km/h and covering 50 km in just 16 minutes (using half the tank), the aerodynamic design and manufacturing processes have now been validated for this mini French Shahed 238.

The drone will be equipped with a cumulative armor-piercing warhead, in addition to innovative technology that will ensure the defeat of active protection systems.

As part of the Larinae project, the French armed forces are considering purchasing drones suitable for combating armored or protected targets at a distance of 50 km and with a flight time of 60 minutes.

The specifications set by the AID required the creation of a drone that can do more than a remotely operated munition. In addition to being able to penetrate the armor of an armored vehicle with a piercing charge, this device will also have to carry out reconnaissance or observation missions without being detected and certainly not stopped thanks to jamming-resistant technology. After such a mission, the Veloce must be able to return to its base by performing a vertical landing.

"Most drone attacks have been stopped by cyber jamming technologies. This drone will be able to fly through jammers. It will be capable of reaching a target without GPS," Jean-Marc Zuliani, CEO of EOS Technologie, explained last year at the Paris Air Show.

The three companies had 18 months to present a "passive" demonstrator, that is, one without an explosive load. This has now been achieved. If this prototype is validated by the DGA (Directorate General of Armament), they will have about 12 months to develop a version equipped with an explosive charge of 2 to 3 kilograms that will be projected onto the target with "metric precision."

These attacks will be piloted by an operator based at least 80 km away, with a three-hour autonomy. An optronic system must also be able to detect a moving vehicle at 15 km during the day and at 3 km at night. Finally, a last requirement was given. The cost of a drone must not exceed 200,000 euros.

This French drone is inspired by the Iranian drone Shahed 238, an evolution of the Shahed 136. The main difference is the jet propulsion that equips the 238. This propulsion increases its range and speed while allowing for a greater payload capacity. The Shahed 238 was uses for the first time during the Iranian attack of Israel in April 2024. 

Compared to the propeller-driven Shahed-136, which has a speed of about 180 km/h, the Shahed-238, powered by the Toloue-10 micro-turbojet engine 896, can reach speeds of 500 km/h. In terms of guidance, the Shahed 238 is equipped with three types of guidance: basic satellite navigation/INS for reaching fixed targets, a radar seeker head, and an electro-optical/infrared sensor. The radar seeker head can be used to search for the electromagnetic radiation of radars to perform suppression or destruction of enemy air defenses or be an active search to strike moving targets. The EO/IR sensor could be used to autonomously focus on heat sources or allow direct control of the drone by an operator. Therefore, it is highly likely that the Veloce 330 will be equipped with similar systems.