Eviden and Hexadrone partner to fit SIGINT payloads on modular drones
Eviden, the Atos Group product brand operating through its Avantix electronic warfare business, and French drone manufacturer Hexadrone have announced a partnership to integrate signals intelligence (SIGINT) payloads into Hexadrone's TUNDRA 2 modular mini-drone platform. The deal, disclosed on 16 June 2026, is aimed at armed forces seeking rapidly deployable, field-adaptable intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.
The collaboration follows what both companies describe as a "plug and flight" philosophy: Eviden contributes its multi-platform SIGINT payload expertise, while Hexadrone supplies its modular airframe architecture. The ambition is to produce compact, sovereign tactical drones that can be reconfigured for different mission profiles without specialist ground support. Neither company disclosed contract values, customer names, or a delivery timeline for the integrated platform.
The deal
Bernard Payer, director of Mission-Critical Systems at Eviden and president of Avantix, said the partnership provides armed forces with "operationally proven, secure solutions that can be deployed immediately in the field for demanding operations requiring performance and technological control." Alexandre Labesse, president of Hexadrone, framed the agreement as consistent with the company's broader strategy of meeting European industrial and regulatory standards while addressing defence-sector requirements.
Hexadrone, founded in 2014 and headquartered in the Haute-Loire region of France, currently generates around 80 per cent of its revenue from the defence sector, serving French and European armed forces across its TUNDRA and GEKKO platforms. Its open architecture integrates more than 150 partner-certified components under the HXD APPROVED label, covering missions from tactical reconnaissance to remotely operated munitions. Eviden brings more than 2,200 specialists and 720 patents in cybersecurity, mission-critical systems and sovereign intelligence across the Atos Group's global footprint.
Market context
The tactical drone market has accelerated sharply since 2022, with European militaries under pressure to procure domestic, sovereignty-compliant systems rather than rely on platforms with non-European supply chains. France, Germany, and several Nordic states have increased procurement budgets for ISR and electronic warfare assets, and EU defence industrial initiatives are creating fresh incentives for European prime contractors to partner with specialist small- and mid-cap suppliers.
SIGINT-equipped drones occupy a growing niche at the intersection of unmanned systems and electronic warfare. Competing approaches span established primes such as Thales, Safran, and Airbus Defence and Space, as well as a number of well-funded European startups developing AI-enabled signal-processing payloads. The key differentiator being pursued here is modularity: the ability to swap payloads rapidly in the field reduces logistical overhead and extends platform life across evolving threat environments.
Regulatory and sovereignty read-across
The partnership's emphasis on "sovereign" capabilities is commercially significant. European defence procurement increasingly mandates supply-chain transparency and technology control under frameworks such as the European Defence Fund and national security-of-supply regulations. France's Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) has been an active funder of domestic drone programmes, and both Eviden and Hexadrone are positioned to benefit from continued French and EU procurement preference for domestically developed platforms.
The partnership was announced in the context of Eurosatory 2026, the biennial Paris-based land and airland defence exhibition, which historically serves as a commercial launch pad for European defence technology partnerships. Whether this agreement will translate into named customer contracts or export licences for non-EU customers remains to be seen. Investors in Atos Group, which is listed on Euronext Paris, will be watching for evidence that Eviden's defence portfolio is generating new revenue amid the group's broader restructuring.