FT: Automotive plants fail to fit military drone production

Efforts to repurpose idle automobile factories for the production of military drones are likely to fail and could lead to inefficient use of public funds, according to the chief executive of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Eisaku Ito, as reported by the Financial Times.

Ito said that automotive plants are designed for large-scale production of standardised goods, while military drones require frequent design changes and small-batch manufacturing. He warned that adapting car factories for such purposes could result in outdated equipment and represent a huge waste of taxpayers’ money.

“Honestly, I felt like such comments were made by people who don’t really understand this,” he said. “Products in this field change their specifications constantly depending on the situation. Automobile factories, by contrast, are designed to manufacture tens of thousands or millions of the same units.”

The remarks come amid discussions in Europe about converting parts of the automotive industry for defence production.

According to the FT, French automaker Renault has already signed agreements to produce drones with companies Turgis Gaillard and Thales, while Germany’s Volkswagen is exploring cooperation with Israeli air defence producers. Mercedes-Benz is also reportedly planning drone production in partnership with Tytan Technologies.

The newspaper adds that Japan is significantly expanding its drone production capacity amid rising defence spending, with procurement budgets for unmanned systems nearly tripled in the current fiscal year.

By Jeyhun Aghazada