Drones as a service

Atechsys started in 2007 with an idea that was unusual at the time: rather than simply selling drones, it would fly them for customers. DCI Group describes it as the French trailblazer of the drone-as-a-service concept. Over the years it built up a fleet of more than 30 drones of ten different types, fixed-wing, rotary-wing and hybrid, weighing from 1 kg to 150 kg and with endurance of up to 12 hours, and offered surveillance, intelligence gathering and data collection for defence and security clients.

Ranges of its own

What sets Atechsys apart is airspace. It operates two test and training centres in the south of France, at Pourrières in Provence and at Magnac-Lavalette in Charente, with its own airspace available around the clock. Manufacturers use them to test new drones, armed forces use them for training, and they host counter-drone trials and drone tracking work using Atechsys’s ATLAS technology. A design office supports research and development, and the company has mastered the core technologies of each drone type it flies.

Inside DCI

In 2020 Atechsys was acquired by DCI, Défense Conseil International, the group that trains foreign armed forces on behalf of the French defence ministry. It became DCI’s drone brand, offering tailored drone systems and training in France and abroad alongside DCI’s own drone school at the Salon-de-Provence air base. Atechsys Engineering won a place in the France 2030 call for low-carbon aircraft made in France, and in October 2024 showed its hybrid low-carbon Caméléon drone at the Élysée Palace.

工厂

• Pourrières test and training centre · Pourrières, Var — Own airspace, available 24/7
• Magnac-Lavalette test and training centre · Magnac-Lavalette-Villars, Charente